The Children of Destiny part 1
by Mega Man Model T 101
Summary: This is a major crossover. It will have characters from games, along with a few from other categories as well, the ones that appeared in games once or twice. Some parts will be retellings of other stories, and some will be original. I hope you enjoy it.
1. Entering the Castle of the Demon

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 1

Entering the Castle of the Demon

It was a dark and misty night over the ocean. On the surface of the water was a small boat carrying two people. One was a young girl sitting with her hands on her lap, and the other was a man dressed in robes with a hood over his face. He was rowing the boat through the still, foggy waters.

The girl was in her early teens, her hair was somewhat short and a light blue color, her eyes a dark red color. She wore a dark blue dress with a white trim at the bottom. The skirt was short so she could move about freely. Her sleeves were long and white; she wore dark tights and knee high boots that were tied in the front with small string. Underneath her white collar was a red scarf that hung past her chest, and tied at the middle of it was a pendent with a blue gem. The two passengers were silent, until a huge ship could be seen not to far away.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked the man rowing the boat. "It would be better if the man with the Vampire Killer did this."

"I'm sure," the girl replied. "Besides, he needs to stay with the villagers to protect them."

The man then sighed. "Ok, may the angels of heaven watch over you, Carrie," the man said.

"Thank you," Carrie said as she bowed her head and closed her eyes. She stayed that way until she felt the boat stop. Looking up she saw the boat had pulled up in front of a huge chain; the ship must have had one heck of an anchor for a chain that big.

"Looks like you can get in this way. Now remember, once you get below deck, hide there until the ship makes port at the castle."

"Thank you. You best head back now," Carrie said as she grabbed hold of the chain and pulled herself up a little.

"Heh heh, you're one of the first to be somewhat concerned about me," the man laughed. Carrie then looked back.

"You've brought other people to the castle?" she asked.

"I've helped many hunters in their quest to stop Dracula. Most of the people I've ferried to places much like this are the Belmonts," the man replied.

"The Belmonts? But then that means you're…" Carrie tried to say but the man then rowed off into the fog while chuckling to himself. Carrie stared blankly into the fog for a few minutes while what she just learned sunk into her head. The man was apparently much older then he looked and sounded. What made her so shocked was the fact that the Belmonts have been out of action for years and other Vampire Hunters faced Dracula in their absence. She then remembered what she was doing and she began to climb up the chain again. As she climbed on deck, the reason why she was here began to run through her head again.

Not to long ago, her mother was killed by followers of Dracula, and just days ago her stepmother was killed by his monsters. And just the other day her cousin went missing. It all pointed to one person, Dracula, the Prince of Evil. It was both her bloodline and personal feelings that brought her here, as her bloodline was connected to a family of magic users that had fought Dracula alongside the Belmonts almost since the beginning. No one appeared to be on deck, and all was quiet, except for the creaking of the boat, which was a bit nerve racking. She made her way to the cabin door and tried to open it, but the doorknob only rattled.

'Rats. Now where would they put the key?' Carrie thought. Before an idea could come to mind, she heard a loud thud behind her. She looked back and saw a fish man standing with a trident in his hands. He was looking right at her with angry fish eyes.

'Guess these guys are patrolling the water around the ship.' She thought as she jumped to the side as the fish man tried to impale her with the trident. Carrie then focused her energy in her right hand, forming a blue ball of energy. The fish man didn't pay any mind to it as he tried to slash at her but she ducked and let out her ball of energy and it nailed the fish man in the chest and knocked him over onto his back. As he tried to get up, Carrie slashed at his throat with a ring with energy flowing around it, the fish man then thrashed for a few seconds, then went limp, and soon faded away into thin air. Carrie then heard something shifting, and looking to her left she saw a platform come out of the side of the wall.

'An odd mechanism, but helpful,' Carrie thought as she shrugged her shoulders. She climbed onto the platform, then onto the top of the cabin area. When she stood up she couldn't help but notice the odd platforms sticking out of the sides of the mast that she was close to. There were boxes around so she checked around them and looked in some barrels, but no key. She placed a hand on her hip and a hand at her chin to try and figure out where the key could be, but the thoughts were interrupted as a ghost began to appear in front of her. Quickly reacting she shot a blast at it, and it faded away while looking like it was in pain. After a few seconds more began to appear. They were pretty weak as Carrie made quick work of them, but it still didn't help her much. She propped herself on the mast while trying to figure where the key could be.

'It doesn't appear to be on deck. I'm out of luck if it's below deck, but maybe one of the fish men has it.' But she then shook her head.

'But when I killed that one fish man, that platform appeared so I can get up here, so the key must be here somewhere,' she then thought. She then noticed a lever almost right next to her. She then looked at it before taking hold of it.

'Maybe this will make the key appear,' she thought before she pulled the lever, and the part of the mast that was above her rotated. And one of the odd parts that she noticed was close enough for her to reach if she jumped.

'A rather odd place to stick the key, but affective I guess,' she thought as she climbed that mast, and there it was, sitting there at the top platform on the mast. She took it and made her way back down to deck. When she reached bottom, fish men with clubs jumped onto the deck.

'I can probably take them, but I've wasted enough time up here,' Carrie thought as she ran for the door. She slid past the ones that were coming toward her and rolled to the side as one with a trident began to clear the railing. Moving fast she unlocked the door, opened it, got inside, slammed it, and locked it. She then pressed herself against the wall to her right and let out a big sigh of relief.

'Good thing those guys are somewhat slow, had they been fast, that would have been it for me,' she thought. She looked around the room and it was quite small, just a path that led to a hole. And just when she was just a few inches from the hole when a skeleton just rose up out of it, but she soon realized it was because it was on an elevator. He went down without to much of a fuss. Carrie stood on the elevator and turned around so she was facing the same way the skeleton was facing and it went down. When she reached bottom there was a small welcome wagon waiting for her, a fish man and two skeletons. It didn't take her long to floor the skeletons but it took her a little work to take care of the fish man as he spat acid water at her. After she took care of the fish man, she went partway to the door the fish man was guarding but a bone flew by her face. Looking back she saw skeletons were coming out of the boxes that the two skeletons she took care of were standing next two.

"YIPE!" Carrie screamed as she ran for the door as the skeletons kept on coming. She swung the door open and slammed it shut and pressed her body against it.

'That was one of the scariest things I've ever seen! Just how in the world did all those guys fit in there? There were about twelve of them before I got out!' Carrie asked in her head. But then she noticed that five fish men were in the room, and they were all staring at her. Four were on the ground, and the fifth one was on the upper area.

'Uh oh, bad move,' she thought. It took her a few minutes but she beat four of them, and the fifth came down. This one was a little tougher but she beat him. She then rested awhile while the ship went for its destination. She sat with her back to the wall and almost dozed off until the ship began to shake violently. She stood up to try and figure out what was going on.

"Are they crazy enough to crash the ship onto land?" she asked. But the ship kept on shaking and dust was falling from everywhere.

'No, if it was doing that, the ship would be on an angle already, something outside the ship must know I'm here,' Carrie thought. Soon the ship began to stop shaking, but then something hit her from behind and she flew forward a ways before hitting the ground. She stood up and looked back to see what hit her, and sticking out of the wall was a long pale reddish colored scaly arm with claws waving back and forth.

'Boy, I'm lucky I didn't get impaled on one of those claws!' she thought. But the faint sigh of relief was replaced with a horrible thought. But before she could look down she already felt it, water was slowly flowing past her feet. The arm then went back in and the water that was slowly pressing past it flowed faster, and other parts of the ship began to burst from the pressure, and the water level began to rise. Already her mind was racing on how to escape. It didn't take long before the water got close to her knees, but she saw a box that she could stand on and possibly reach one of the upper rafters. She ran over to it and climbed it, but she couldn't reach the upper rafter. But when the water was high enough, the box began to float and she was then able to get up onto the rafter. After that she had to jump past a swinging lantern that was lit. She soon reached an opening that led to the upper deck which wasn't there before. When she reached the deck the ship began to tilt. She was hoping she could reach a box before the ship capsized, but the deck fell apart under her feet, and soon all that could be seen of the ship was the rear end of it slowly going under. But then Carrie resurfaced on a long part of the deck and it laid flat on the surface of the water.

'Narrowly escaped getting impaled, and just barley escaped going down with the ship, lady luck don't give up on me now,' Carrie thought. She looked around and thought she was stranded, but behind her were boxes and parts of the ship that led to a stone bridge. After hopping for a little bit she reached the bridge and found an ax.

"A rather odd place for an ax, but perhaps it belonged to someone who tried to stop Dracula," she thought as she picked it up, and hoped it would do her more good than the person who last had it. She marched down the bridge and could see some kind of gate off in the distance. When she was halfway there, something emerged from the water to her left, and after the water cleared, she saw the same color scales that were on the arms that sunk the ship. It was a dragon like-serpent from what she could tell by how its head was shaped, its eyes were a green color, and it looked at her intently.

"So you're the one who tried to send me to the bottom of the ocean? Well I hate to tell you but I don't drown easy," Carrie said as she placed her hands on her hips. But she sadly knew she couldn't swim worth a darn. But the dragon just let out a loud roar and held one of its arms back. Carrie gasped and just barley ducked his swing. She then ran to try and become a harder target to hit, but then a pillar of water came from under her feet and she went skyward and hit the ground hard.

'I have very little space to move, this battle won't be easy,' Carrie thought as she managed to stand up despite the pain. She then fired a few balls of magic at the dragon and they hit its head, but it didn't even react, but she saw she did some damage. It then went under the water and Carrie slowly walked left and right while trying to keep an eye on the water. It emerged where she figured it would, and she jumped backwards when she saw it spit something she thought would make that pillar of water, but nothing happened. She then shot a few more blasts at the dragon and when she was done she began to turn around but her legs wouldn't move. She looked down and saw a green slime had incased her feet and held them tight. She tugged a few times to try and get free, but the dragon scooped her up. It looked at her as she tried to get free of its grip and it snarled at her before it held her up high. Carrie knew what was going to happen, she then pulled out her ax and tossed it where the arm came out at and chopped it off. She landed softly and shot the dragon a few times in the head, but she freaked out when a new arm quickly sprouted from where she chopped it off at. The dragon then faced her and straightened up but Carrie realized it was going to try and smash her flat, so she dove past it as it slammed into the bridge and took part of it with it. The dragon the soon emerged again and shot out water that made the towers of water, but Carrie dodged each one, but then the dragon shot out a green slime while in the middle of doing that and Carrie landed on it while dodging that last pillar of water, but she quickly shot it and it vanished and she dove under the dragon's swing and shot it one last time in the head and it thrashed around in pain before slightly pausing, then falling onto its back and it floated on the surface of the water, with no sign of life. Carrie then took a big breath before letting out a sigh.

'If this was the first guy to face, I'll be lucky to be able to beat the rest,' she thought. She then heard the gate behind begin to open, so she made her way to the gate and walked past it and it then slammed shut behind her.

'Not like I can escape that way,' she thought as she shrugged it off. She was still on a stone bridge, but she could see the side of a cliff ahead of her. Close to the base of the cliff were five odd looking green guys, just jumping up and down. She stared blankly at them for a few seconds before she got what she figured was close enough and shot out a fully charged blast at one of them, but it kept on going and bashed the other two, so she had to shoot one more to get the last two.

'Not very strong guys, but might have been annoying if I had melee weapons,' she thought. When she reached the side of the cliff, she could see the only way to climb up was to climb the stone platforms that were sticking out. It was a little exhausting to make the climb as there were a lot of platforms and she had to pull herself up every single one of them. But never the less she made it, and she could see another gate not to far ahead. After she walked over to it she rested in front of it as to how tired she from climbing and getting bounded a little by the water dragon. After what she felt like was enough of a rest, she turned around and tried to figure out how to open the gate. It was made of two great big wooden doors, but what was most eye catching was the huge stone plate right in the middle of them. After carefully looking at it, she figured all she had to do was blow the stone plate off. She shot two energy blasts at it, and the center of the plate broke and the doors began to swing inward. She waited patiently for the doors to fully open as she didn't want to rush in, but two big bone hands grabbed each door and swung them fully open and standing there was a huge skeleton with three eyes holes in the head, two where they should be, but there was one right in the center of the forehead. Carrie didn't even get a chance to react as it roared loudly in her face and the force of its breath knocked her off her feet right onto her back. After being a little dazed she propped herself on her hands and watched as the skeleton ran back inward.

"Boy someone sure is grouchy this morning," she said out loud. It actually became morning a little before she face the dragon, but because it was so cloudy it was hard to tell. After she stood up she couldn't help but stare at how the skeleton ran, it was running like an ape. She ran after it into a sort of boxed in area, but there were two open spots, but she could go either because there was no ground. It stopped at the opening straight from the gate and turned around and swung a huge bone at her, but she just barley jumped over it. She quickly shot a few energy shots at it, and almost knocked it over, but caught itself on one of its hands, and began to run again. She gave chase, and it soon stopped and pounded the ground with the bone.

'What in the heck is it doing? It could wake up the…' but she stopped the thought as some skeletons began to climb out of the dirt.

"Sure is one heck of a wakeup procedure,' she thought. She quickly dispatched the skeletons and got knocked down by the force of the swing from the big bone and it just missed her back by inches. She quickly rolled onto her back and shot a few blasts and got the same result as last time, and the skeleton began to run to the other opening. She followed it and jumped its swing when it stopped and shot it a few more times, and this time after it caught itself again, it held its head and stopped angrily on one foot as it roared, after it was done venting its frustration, it turned around and jumped over the ledge and made a loud splash when it hit the water below. She looked over the edge and saw the huge ripples where it hit, and could see a bridge coming up so she could cross.

'Not exactly a victory I was hoping for, but I'll probably meet him again later,' she thought. But after shrugging off what just happened, she made her way across the bridge to an old busted statue she first thought was a fountain. Also in the area were two metal gates and a path that led to a partly broken bridge. She figured the gates wouldn't budge, so she looked around the fountain while fending off some skeletons that just kept on coming out of the earth. The only path she could take was the somewhat broken bridge, as both begin and ending sides were gone, so all was left was the middle. After jumping across to the other side, she found two torches in front of a pedestal with a pillar in the middle of it. After walked around it she found a lever was on the other side.

'This should open one of the gates,' she thought as she pulled the lever. After it was fully down the gate across from her, opened, but then the bridge went down. But before she could even run over to see how far it went down, a huge muscular wereleopard landed just a few feet in front of her. She quickly turned around, but she only took one step as the wereleopard grabbed her other leg and lifted her high into the air and then slammed her into the ground.

'This guys sure don't have sex discrimination that a lot of people seem to believe,' she thought as she pulled herself forward, the main advantage she has over a lot of these guys is that she has ranged attacks, she just has to make the space in order for it to work. It was a little hard to do that as they were in a boxed area, but she got him without too much trouble, just slightly sore ribs. After she applied the final blow, his body went up and flames and roared in pain. After it was gone the bridge returned. She made her way past the statue and through the gate, and down the path beyond, she came across two more of those odd green guys, but she got them before they could even get close. After walking further down the path, she came across a rather odd setup; there was a huge hole, and two shrine like things around it. She went to go examine the one closest to her, but before she could get close enough, she heard the dirt shifting.

'More skeletons?' she asked in her head. But got a different answer, hands were coming out of the dirt, with sickly looking flesh.

"Zombies!" she then exclaimed. She went to her left to avoid one of the zombies that were coming out, but had to keep backing up as the hands kept on coming out trying to grab her. She took a few more steps and with the last one, her heel didn't go on anything so her foot slipped on the edge and she screamed as the rest of her body went with it. She fell a bit but hit solid ground not to far below, a bit too solid to her liking as she landed on another stone platform sticking out of the wall. Looking around she figured her best bet was to climb down the rest of the platforms. When she reached bottom she at first thought there was nothing there, but she then noticed how cracked the wall was.

'One good blast should but this wall down,' she thought, but before she did that she went back to the other platform before shooting the wall just incase. Only the wall grumbled from the blast, and there was a hidden tunnel. The tunnel went straight for a ways, and then went right. She figured it would be best if she took the trip slowly. She few a few skeletons here and there, and was surprised at something.

'After just escaping the zombies up there, I thought for sure some would be down here, guess I was just luc…' her thought trailed off when she almost fell over. She realized it was because a zombie came part way out of the dirt behind her and stretched a ways and grabbed her ankles. She figured she best be careful on how she moved so she wouldn't pull the zombie the rest of the way out. She then heard a rather odd sound in front of her; she looked forward and saw a blue skeleton that was sparking. She gasped as she looked at her feet.

'I better move fast, the last thing I need is a shock from getting hugged!' she thought as she pulled out her rings and channeled her magic through them, and sliced the hands of the zombie at the wrist, and she dove to the side and the skeleton tripped and fell on the zombie and blew up. Carrie didn't give herself time to try and figure out what happened, all she knew was that she had to get out of the tunnel, and fast. She wasn't that far from the tunnel, and she ran out, turned to the right and jumped onto another stone platform before collapsing.

"few deep breaths ok, it appears that there are skeletons that explode for no real reason, and as to how they explode, no idea, this is just a messed up castle," she said out loud. "Wait a minute; I'm not even in the castle yet. Oh boy things are sure to be fun when I get in there," she then leaped from the platform to one that was just sitting on the water, and found a similar setup to the one lever she used to open that one gate. She operated it and soon found herself surrounded by fish men.

"Sorry guys but I'm in a hurry," she said before making herself an opening to get to the other platforms, and how they were spaced, none of the fish men could reach her. She made her way to the top and found a path that probably led from the other gate at the broken fountain. But ahead of her was that gate she just opened and she made her way to it, and soon she could see Casltevania, the home of The Prince of Darkness, Dracula. She was about halfway to the drawbridge, when a huge bone hand grabbed the ledge, and she knew who it was, it was the big skeleton from before.

"So, you're ready for a rematch?" she asked, but all it did was roar like usual. So it ran to one side, and Carrie gave chase and shot at it a few times, it seemed to be following the same pattern. After she shot at it again, its hand came off.

'AHA! I have him now!' she thought. But this time it did a slight change in pattern, it ran to the middle of the area, and she could see sparks going through its body. First it did a huge leap, and when it landed, it sent out a shockwave along the surface of the ground in a circle shape, but it moved slow enough for her to jump over it. But it was still sparking.

'What is he up to now?' she asked in her head. The skeleton then faced her and bent down and spewed poison at her, but she managed to avoid it, and it stopped sparking. Carrie kept up the pace and soon it lost the part below the elbow.

'Dang, all I'm taking off is one arm,' she thought. After a few more hits, it lost the whole arm at the shoulder. It then did the combo before, same result, but then it called up some reinforcements, but she shot him during that and she broke its spine and it hit the ground with a loud thud, but it was still alive. She took out the skeletons it called, and got whacked by its huge bone, but she then jumped onto its back and slashed at its neck with her rings until the head came off, and it made a dying noise.

"Whew, am I glad that's over" she said as she rubbed her head. She then got off and went toward the drawbridge as it began to rain, and she stood close to the edge where the big skeleton came from, the rain began to pour down faster. Soon the drawbridge came down, and hit the ledge a few feet in front of her. She gazed up at the castle as the rain began to pour harder and harder, as if to try and deter her, but she made up her mind, she came this far, she wasn't going to back down now, she then made her way across the drawbridge, and soon, she vanished into the darkness.

End Chapter 1


	2. The halfhuman girl

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 2

The half-human girl

It was a stormy day at Castlevania, and marching into the castle gate was Carrie. She made her way in, and paused when she came across another gate. She examined it, and it was sturdy, and could probably withstand her magic. But then the area shook and she looked back just as the draw bridge was going up, and a gate came down in front of it. It was not like she could head back to the village from the way she came if she wanted to anyway. She examined the area, and to her left and right were doors, the one to her left she figured was locked by how the door handle looked, so she went to the right. And through the door was a round room, which was pretty big as to how far it went around, and how tall it was. To her left were the stairs that led to the top, with no other option, she began her ascent. There were some parts on the way that were straight, but some of those parts were a little broken, so she had to be careful. After climbing a few sets of stairs, she came across a bone pillar at the top of one of them. The bone pillar had a dragon like head that could spit out fireballs. Naturally with her powers, she had no real trouble, but the top of the next set of stairs was a little tricky because she stopped to look at something just in the right spot and a huge blade with blood on came down in front of her.

"Ok, be cautious of the next few stairs." She made her way to the top of the tower and opened the door that was there. She gasped after she came through as there was a huge two-headed, bone-like serpent wrapped around the gears in the room. The heads couldn't reach her where she was at, but the fireballs they pat out could. It took some careful maneuvering but after shooting one of the heads for awhile, it turned black, and instead of its usual fireball, it shot out a huge long flamethrower like attack. She just barely avoided getting badly burned, and managed to destroy the head, and soon took out the other one, and the gate that was in the room raised up. Before she went down that path, she found a lever in front of the gears and pulled it, after that she felt the place shake. She went down the path that was open to her and made her way down, and came across a rather odd pile of bones; they were a green color. But the purpose was then made obvious as a skeleton morphed out of the pile and the pile stayed the same. Knowing that they would just keep on coming she jumped down a hole that was close by and found herself in some sort of storage area as there were a pile of bags in one spot, and right next to one of the piles was a bone pillar. This one went down as easy as the other one, but after that she saw something sparkling at the top of the shelf that was above the bone pillar. After climbing up the shelf she found a key, which probably unlocks that one door. After climbing down another hole, she was back where she started, and she quickly unlocked the door and made her way inside. The setup was similar to the other room, except it was a little darker, and there was a huge hole in the floor. But otherwise the room was the same in terms of concept, having to climb sets of stairs to get to the top. After she reached the top of the first set, she walked along the path that was there, but then her feet went into the rubble as the middle of the path collapsed but she caught herself on the ledge behind her.

"Ok, I have to watch more closely where I step." She then climbed back up, and then jumped across the gap. She then went up a few more sets of stairs while killing bone pillars and avoiding the huge blades. But she then came across a rather odd colored path, it was green, and it looked like it was made of separate pieces.

'What is this?' But then the piece in front of her spun over and spikes came into view.

'Ok, I either would have gotten impaled, or fell down and break every bone in my body.' And just as soon as the last piece was being reset, she ran across and made her way to the top. The second to last set of stairs was a little tricky as it was the same color as the other platforms. She jumped up the stairs and soon reached the top floor. And at the top was a door with a moon crest on it. Not paying it any mind she tried to open the door, but it didn't budge.

'Huh?' she then looked more closely at it, there was text that read: _the seal will only open in the light of the moon_.

'So this door will only open when the moon is up? Well, that gives me time to rest a little.' So she waited for time to pass. She tried to open the door the split second the moon was entering the sky, and it opened. She walked in and found gears like in the other part of the tower. She quickly found the lever and pulled it, and the gears turned and the place shook, and the other gate opened where she could progress. Soon after it was done, the bells in the clock tower began to chime, and she looked out the hole in the wall, and could see the castle. But then something caught her eye, walking closer she was a person floating just a few feet away, and not just any person, it was Dracula himself, wearing a dark blue outfit with gold trim here and there, his face was pale, he had long white hair, his face was elderly, as he also had a beard, while he floated there he had his arms crossed.

"Dracula, so you decided to go for a walk?" Carrie asked. "Miserable worm, upstart weakling!" he protested. "So when things go bad you insult people? Not very becoming for someone of your stature," she said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Very well then, come and meet your doom! Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!" he laughed as he turned to mist and vanished.

"Was he even listening to me? I guess not." With that aside, she went through the other hole in the wall and made her way down to the other gate and made her way out. Just as soon as she was outside, the gate came down behind her.

'What is it with these guys and locking the doors behind me? It's not like I can escape if I wanted to,' she then began to survey the area while going ahead, and noticed some bats flying overhead, and just as soon they were out of sight, she tripped and fell down.

'That's what I get for not paying attention. So what did I trip on anyway?' and she got her answer, she had tripped on the leg of what she thought was a dead animal, but it wasn't an animal, it was the three headed demon in the shape of a hound, there were a few other bodies just like it lying around, all dead.

'Someone must have gotten here just before me, but how? And who?' And she got her answer, past a double gate was a girl about in her twenties, but she couldn't get a good look at her as there was a hound on her with fire coming out of each head. Carrie began to run over to help her, but the girl held out one arm and claws came out of her gauntlet, and she slashed off each head with one slash each. After she pushed off the body, the rest of her came into view; her clothes were a little odd. They were the same dark blue color as her eyes and hair, she wore a blue jacket, shorts that were cut at the thighs, and knee high boots. But was really odd about her was her ears, they were long, and stuck straight up. From where Carrie was standing, there were fences to her left and right, and the girl went to the one to her left while talking out loud.

"Blasted mongrel, coming out of nowhere and knocking me over," the girl muttered. She then reached beyond the fence and pulled out a long thin sword and placed it in the holster tied to her waist. She began to head for what looked like a mansion but paused, then looked back.

"Where did you come from?" she asked. Carrie was a little nervous.

"Uh…the village."

The girl then walked over. "How did you get here?"

Carrie figured she was trying to determine if she was a monster or not.

"By boat."

The girl then blinked a few times. "You can get here by boat?" She sounded like she had no idea that it was even possible.

"How did you get here?" Carrie finally got to ask.

"Through the forest, I climbed one of the trees and jumped over the fence, I didn't think they would have such a welcome wagon," she said while pointing to one of the trees, she then paused a few seconds.

"I forgot my manners for the moment, seeing as to how you're not a monster. I'm Sarah, and you are?" Carrie could see Sarah had no intention of harming her.

"I'm Carrie Fernandez," she replied. Sarah almost went into shock.

"Did you say 'Carrie Fernandez'?" she asked.

"Yes. Why are you so surprised?" Carrie asked. Sarah then held her head.

"Oh why haven't I returned to my proper time?" she wondered.

"Just what are you anyway?"

"I'm a numan," Sarah replied.

"New what?" Carrie asked.

"Hm, how do I put it? It's spelled n-u-m-a-n, but pronounced somewhat like new men," she replied.

"Ok," said Carrie, "so I now how to pronounce it, but what are you exactly?"

"It's sort of a long story," she answered. "But I'm actually a half numan. My mother was a full numan, my father was a human. What numans actually are is a race that can live through a harsh period. How we came into existence was through an experiment call Neitype research. The first one created had some problems, but over the years, the research was perfected, and thus here I am, not created in a test tube, but born."

"Here is an interesting question…" but Carrie didn't get to ask.

"Every numan made for the experiments were female," she added.

"So, the only way for a male numan to come into existence is for them to marry?" Carrie wondered.

"Yes. And I did have a brother."

"Did? You mean he's dead?" Carrie asked.

"Sadly yes, he was killed," Sarah replied.

'And Deedlit blamed herself for it' she added silently. But then a thought came to mind.

"Were you the only one to come on the boat, or did you come here alone?" Sarah asked.

"I came here of my own accord," Carrie replied.

"Well, seeing as to how we sort of have the same goals, why don't we work together?"

"What do you mean same goals? I'm here to kill Dracula for what happened…" Carrie didn't get to finish.

"To avenge the death of your mother," Sarah supplied.

"How did you know that?" Carrie wondered.

"I'm from the future, I'm not of this time, and I've met one of your descendents," she answered. She then pondered a little.

"We're from the same time," Sarah said as they then went towards the mansion and walked past the fountain that was there and went inside.

"Normally I would say this isn't that bad of a place for the count, but I know this place isn't his, just a place that got wrapped up into the castle," Sarah said. The room was somewhat big, there were stairs almost right in front of the front door, there were fancy candles, the floor and pillars were sort of a gold color, and the carpet was red.

"You're right, this particular place once belong to a man that now lives in the village," Carrie agreed. Sarah then looked around.

"Yeah, Henry, if I remember right." Carrie figured she was telling the truth about being from the future, how else would she know all about this. But at that moment, Sarah's ears twitched.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Something is here…on the ceiling, its moving fast," Sarah replied. Carrie looked up and saw something zipping across the ceiling like Sarah said, it went above the door and launched off and did some flips and landed a few feet in front of Carrie. It was then clear what it was, it was a vampire. Carrie was in a stunned horror when she saw its face, she knew it was going to be pale, but it didn't even look human, just a huge gap where the mouth would be, and it had long fangs at each corner of the mouth. It then went for her but she managed to overcome her fear and leaped to the side as it tried to grab her. After it stumbled a little, Sarah stabbed it in the back with her sword. After it turned around she tried to slash at it but it grabbed her hand in mid-swing, but she then held out her other hand and the claws came from the gauntlet again and she slashed his chest.

"You just going to stand there or what?" she asked. Carrie jumped into action and then shot him a few times and he began to run after her.

"Yikes! This guy is faster then I thought he was!" she said as he began to close the gap between them, but she fired out another shot and it homed in on him and knocked him over. But he got up really fast but got slashed by an energy slash from Sarah's sword and turned into a bat and fled.

"Where did you get those weapons from?" Carrie asked.

"The claws are a memento from my mother," Sarah said as she showed the back of her hand. "But the sword, I have no idea where it came from. I just found it and was able to use its power. I don't think I've even fully learned all it can do."

They then made their way up the stairs and turned left and went through the door there. The door led to a small path that they figured led to a garden. After going through the door at the end of the path, they entered a rose garden. The roses were a bright red.

"I'm amazed these plants are even still alive, look at how beautiful they are!" Carrie said in amazement.

"You're right, they even smell nice," Sarah agreed. The room was round and there was a stand in the middle of the room. Roses were in the stand and were at the border where the fresh air comes in. They went into the door to the right and walked up the stairs in the room and entered the door to their left. It was a bedroom, with a bed in the upper left corner, and there was a door to the right. Carrie then walked over to it.

"I wonder where this one leads?" She started to turn the handle but something yanked the door out of her hands. There was an elderly-looking man in the other room and he began to walk toward Carrie while holding something out towards her as she backed up. But he then caught sight of Sarah and ran toward her and tried to strike her with the object but she grabbed his wrist and made him drop it. She then realized it was a cross.

"How can you withstand the might of the cross?" the man asked. Sarah then bent down and picked up the cross.

"Because I'm no demon from Dracula," she replied as she handed him the cross. She then noticed the cross around his neck, and the huge cross on his back.

"Are you a vampire hunter?" she asked.

"Yes I am. I'm Charlie Vincent, mightiest of all vampire hunters," he replied.

"Right," Carrie said, sounding very unsure about that. He then looked at her.

"You look like a villager, but her…" He glanced at Sarah. "Just what are you?" he asked.

"That is none of your concern as she and I are here to dispose of Dracula, he is not for someone like you," Sarah replied.

"You may have a chance, but _her_? Don't make me laugh!" he said.

"Speak not of matters that do not concern you! Dracula is not an opponent to take lightly," Carrie said as she crossed her arms.

"Save both your breaths, I doubt we can reach an understanding from bickering like this, Charlie, have you possibly seen something that could help us?" Sarah asked.

"I'm not so sure if this is helpful, but I spied a young woman in the rose garden about dawn. Even in the midst of all these monsters, she was calmly tending the flowers." he replied.

"Talk about devoted," Carrie commented.

"It would seem that way," Sarah agreed. "Let's go see if she will show up, it's almost dawn now," she added. So Sarah and Carrie left the room, and after they closed the door, Sarah's ears twitched again.

"What now?" Carrie asked. Sarah then placed her ear on the door, and could hear the sound of snoring.

"Mr. so called 'mightiest of all vampire hunters' dozed off." Sarah replied. But with that aside, they went back to the rose garden.

"That guy was sort of an oddball," Carrie commented.

"He's just full of himself. But he sure must trust those crosses to sleep in a place like this," Sarah agreed. They just sat there for about twenty minutes or so, and Sarah thought she noticed something odd about one of the roses, but before she could examine it, a woman's voice spoke.

"Excuse me, I would like to water the flowers," the woman said. Quickly stepping aside they saw a blond woman in a red dress, she was carrying a watering can.

"Who are you?" Carrie asked.

"My name is Rosa, I look after these white roses," Rosa replied.

"White roses?" Carrie and Sarah asked simultaneously. And at that moment when Rosa tipped that watering can, blood came out.

"You…you're a vampire?" Carrie asked.

"Why have you no fear? None but vampires and demons live here. I'll forget I saw you, leave quickly," Rosa ordered.

"But we can't do that, as long as Dracula lives children live in fear, we can't abandon them," Carrie protested.

"Very well, you must go to the archives. The key to the archives…ah, a previous adventurer took it," Rosa recalled.

"That idiot Charlie," Sarah grumbled. Rosa then walked toward the door.

"I can held you no more, don't loose your lives too quickly," she said before vanishing into thin air. Quickly heading back to the bedroom, Charlie was still sleeping.

"What do we do now?" Carrie asked.

"Wait in the other room. We need all the strength we can get," Sarah replied. Sarah let Carrie sit in the chair while she sat on the ledge in front of the mirror in the room.

"So, who do you take after?" Carrie asked.

"What was that?"

"I mean, who you look like," Carrie replied.

"Oh. Well, my face, hair style, and body type are taken from my mother, but hair color I got from her older sister. My eyes are similar to my father's, as one of his friends pointed out." Sarah then sighed. "My father and mother had so much in common in some cases. They were both great warriors that fought for peace and humanity, it's just hard to believe how long they've both fought before a long period of peace came along, one of the friends of my father is still alive, and has pretty much been fighting almost her whole life."

"Just how old is she if she's been fighting for a long time?" Carrie asked.

"She's definitely old, but her beauty will never fade as she is an immortal,"

"An immortal?" Carrie repeated.

"In terms of she can't die of old age, but she can be killed," Sarah replied. Her ears then twitched.

"You know, that is a handy feature to have," Carrie commented.

"It has helped us out a lot," Sarah agreed. They went into the room and found Charlie patrolling the area. They had to really try not to laugh at him seeing as to how the monsters don't seem to come to this room, and they would have to be really small for him to have to patrol like that.

"Excuse us, but do you have a key to the archives?" Carrie asked.

"The key to the archives? You must mean this key; I found it in the rose garden. My intuition tells me it's worthless, you can take it if you want," And with that he handed it over to Carrie.

'That's some intuition,' Carrie thought. They left the room and went down the hall.

"We'll go into the room at the far side of the hall first," Sarah said. They weren't even halfway into the hall yet and the picture of a knight in the stain glass window came out.

"Now that is freaky!" Sarah commented. The knight went down without to much of a hassle, but another came out of the other window. After taking him down, they finally made to the door they wanted to enter. It looked like a dinning room of some sort, as it was long and had a long table in the middle of it. They were so shocked to see that the table was still intact they forgot to close the door behind them. They walked toward the mirror at the far end of the table to get to the door at that end of the room. Just as they were in front of the mirror they heard the door slam. Looking over they saw a young man pressed up against the door looking flustered. He was dressed like someone from the village that Carrie came from. He looked out of breath.

"Are you alright?" Sarah asked.

"H…he…hel…help…" the villager stuttered.

"Take it easy, what happened?" Carrie asked.

"This place swarms with demons! You have entered the castle of the demon realm!" he replied.

"Yeah, we're aware of that," Carrie commented.

"If you value your lives, you should leave now!" he said. While both Carrie and the villager talked, Sarah felt something brush against her leg. Looking down she saw a rose next her foot, it had fallen from the vase in front of the mirror. She looked in the mirror and noticed something was out of place.

"What's the matter?" Carrie asked as she looked back, and saw that only her and Sarah showed up in the mirror, the villager was nowhere to be seen. Quickly looking back they saw he turned into his vampire state and looked similar to the vampire they faced earlier, but they knew it wasn't the same one. Sarah jumped onto the table and Carrie jumped back and pressed against the door. The vampire then tried to attack her, but she rolled to the side and stood at the ready.

"You smell different than the usual adventurer. Come, I shall taste your blood!" he said before lunging for Carrie, but she shot right in the face and he fell backwards. But like all vampires, he could get up fast and strike almost instantly. But Carrie was to far away for that tactic to work, she he went after Sarah, but before he could even get on the table, Sarah kicked him right in the face. Under normal circumstances, that kick would have broken something, but due to the fact that vampires are a bit sturdier than the average human, it just hurt a lot. The table gave Carrie and Sarah a tactical advantage, but it didn't last long as the vampire grabbed the table at the middle and flipped it onto its side and shoved it so it pressed against the wall. He managed to get behind Carrie and grabbed her and sunk his fangs into her neck and she screamed. But just a split second after that, Sarah stabbed him in the heart, and he burst into flames and died. Sarah then carefully examined Carrie, she appeared to be alright.

"You don't seem to be a vampire, but I don't know," she said.

"You killed him before he could drink any blood; he just sank his fangs into my neck. Gosh it still hurts," Carrie complained as she rubbed her neck.

"Perhaps this will help," Sarah offered. She held her hand at the wound on Carrie's neck, and a faint light formed, Carrie could feel something soothing as the pain began to fade, and the holes faded away before the light faded.

"That feels much better. How did you do that?" Carrie asked.

"It is a special technique that numans can learn. The techniques can either be offensive or defensive, but they use up magic so I try to use it only when necessary, but the magic does regenerate, it just takes time." Sarah replied. So they went through the door and had to turn left into a small hallway and used the key they got. They walked in and had to turn left and after going further in they saw a huge bookshelf.

"Are we supposed to find a book?" Carrie asked.

"That I'm not sure, there seems to be another room, you check that one, I'll look here," Sarah replied. So with that Carrie went into the other room and found a smaller bookshelf, one that she could climb onto if she wanted to. Sarah examined a small table that was in front of the huge bookshelf. On it was a diary of the former owner of the mansion before it became part of Dracula's castle. Carrie didn't find anything eye catching on the shelves, so she jumped up and grabbed onto the top of the bookcase, and saw a key. She then pulled herself all the way up and picked it up. She then went back to Sarah and told her what she found, after that they went back into the hall that after the dinning room and went into the door to their right. It looked like a living room and the windows were left open, they paid no mind to the ghosts that were coming in and went through the door to their right. They then walked down a circular staircase and found a rolled up scroll at the bottom. They looked at it and it appeared to be a contract of some kind, but the text was very hard to read. At that moment a man's voice spoke.

"Prey, excuse me, but have you seen a scroll hereabouts?" he asked. They turned around and saw a man dressed in a dark green business suit and hat. He also wore glasses that obscured his eyes. He also had a brown beard. One oddball thing about him that caught their eye was that he had a thin tail swishing left and right.

"Ah that's it! I thank you dearly, it is most important to my business. I forgot my manners. I am Renon. I am what you would call a demon," he added as he tipped his hat. With that said, they were about to strike him down but he held up his hand.

"Wait! Wait! I'm not an enemy! I'm here to sell supplies to those who venture into the castle. Surly we were fated to meet," he said. Carrie and Sarah gave each other a quick glance and they looked very unsure about the whole thing.

"It is shameful for a demon to be working, but one needs gold even in the underworld these days," he added. He then pulled out a pocket watch and looked at it.

"Oh my goodness, is that the time? We've talked for far too long. Remember; use the scroll to summon me, whenever you need," he added as he topped his hat again, and then turned into mist and vanished. They looked at the scroll for a few seconds.

"Think we can trust him?" Carrie asked.

"We maybe able to trust him to give us what we pay for, but I don't trust being not able to read what the text says, there might be more to it," Sarah replied. And with that they went out the door and were at the beginning of a hedge maze. On either side of the gate ahead of them, were two scary dog-like statues. One was darker than the other. They went over to the gate and it was locked. They tried the key and it opened. They wandered in the maze for a few minutes and crossed a stone bridge that lead to a dead end. They were about to head back until something shifted a bush that was in one of the corners.

"Who's there?" Carrie called. And out came from behind the bush was a young boy, dressed in the same color purple as his hair and eyes, and he wore a red pendent around his neck.

"Please, help me," he asked.

"What is a child as young as this doing here?" Sarah asked. They both went over to him and knelt down.

"It's ok, you're safe with us. What is your name?" Carrie asked.

"M…my name is Malus," Malus replied.

"Malus, do you know where you parents are?" Sarah asked.

"They…they burned my village…my mother and father too…" Malus replied.

"That's awful!" Carrie exclaimed.

"And they took the children, the demon in the black robe was looking for a certain child and…and I can't remember!" Malus said as he held his head.

"Take it easy, it seems like you've been through a pretty big ordeal," Sarah said. After a few seconds there was a loud growl, and the statues they saw at the beginning of the maze jumped through one of the hedges, and they slowly began to head towards them.

"Ugly mutts, I guess they were playing possum," Sarah commented. When they got to a certain point, Malus ran off screaming.

"Malus wait! It's too dangerous to run off alone!" Carrie called, but he kept on going. It didn't take long for the statues to be beaten, as it only to one hit and they made a death sound and fell on their sides. They went to find Malus and saw him but he ran off. They went down the path he took and they saw a door. Sarah was just a little bit ahead of Carrie, and just before Sarah reached the door, Carrie screamed. Looking back Sarah saw one of the statues had its mouth around one of her legs, and the other one was heading right for her.

"Guess these guys don't die, only get stunned!" Sarah commented before slashing the one that leaped for her. Carrie managed to beat the one that had her leg and limped over to Sarah. Due to her small size it wasn't hard for Sarah to pick her up and carry her. After going through the door she just saw Malus go down a path, and she followed but saw him crawl through a small gap. Turning back to try and find another way she just barley jumped the two statues. She turned around a corner and ran a bit, and something huge rounded the other corner and she just barley ducked its swing.

"It's the creature!" Carrie exclaimed. The creature was a tall man that was made of dead bodies, and it had a chainsaw.

"Sorry big guy, but I don't have much time to play!" Sarah exclaimed as she did a jump slash at its head, and it toppled over. They figured he was just stunned. They managed to catch sight of Malus and followed him and just barley escaped each encounter with the three monsters. After a few minutes they found Malus waiting in front of a door and he opened when they got close enough. After they were through the door slammed shut, and it appeared the monsters couldn't follow them. Sarah then set Carrie down and quickly mended her leg. After that was done Carrie went over to the gate that Malus was standing next to and opened it.

"You have come this far. Follow the path in the forest and you should reach the village. Watch out for the demons in the forest," Carrie warned. Malus was silent, but he went past the gate and it closed, and he soon vanished out of sight. Then they turned their sights to the door they came trough, they could hear the displeased sounds of the statues.

"Let us see what is down the path ahead of us," Sarah said. So they went down the path and found another key. They continued onward and found a door that led back into the mansion. They went back inside and were in the servants' quarters. They went out the other door and were back where they started. They made their way back to the entrance of the maze, and had to avoid the monsters again, but they found a door they had to unlock, so they quickly used the key and slammed the door, and could hear the displeased sounds of the statues again.

"Whew, am I glad we don't have to…" Carrie tried to say, but just as soon as they turned around, they fell down into a small stream.

"At least it wasn't deep water, who knows what kind of creatures swim in the deep," Sarah said as she stood up. She then helped up Carrie.

"I'm the one that should be the most grateful, I can't swim," Carrie commented. They walked through the stream and climbed onto a bridge and saw a small building to their left, they figured the door to their right led back to the maze. So they went through the door and had to walk down some stairs. When they reached bottom they saw a coffin in the distance.

"I'm not sure what this place was intended for, but I don't think that belongs here," Sarah commented. They quietly walked over to the coffin and Sarah gave the gesture to Carrie to open it. Carrie got a hold of it while Sarah drew her sword and held it at the ready. Carrie then took a deep breath, then yanked the lid off and Sarah was about to plunge her sword in, but paused. Carrie wondered what the problem was and looked in; there was nobody inside, just and empty casket. Sarah quickly looked around the room with her ears twitching, but couldn't see anything, but she could her something, it was just hard to pinpoint due to how the room was setup. But at that moment something zipped down and hit the floor. They walked over and it was the body of a young woman in a nightgown. They quickly looked up and saw the vampire they saw when they first entered.

"It's very rude to interrupt someone who is enjoying his meal," he said.

"Or perhaps I'll think different, like the main dish has arrived," he added. He then dropped from the ceiling and landed behind them.

"I'll finish you off here and now!" he protested. He then sprung forward and tried to slash at them, but they dodged with ease. They battled for a few good minutes as he would make a retreat to the ceiling and try to drop on them, but the last time he tired, Sarah grabbed him and tossed him towards the coffin, but before he could do anything else, Carrie grabbed a pointy piece of wood that was lying around and tossed it with all her might, and impaled him in the heart and his body burst into flames.

"Impossible! I, a vampire, defeated by a human?" he asked before he fell onto his back. He then turned into dust. Just a split second after that they felt a terrible feeling, looking back they saw the woman slowly getting back up in the vampire fashion.

"There's always one more isn't there?" Sarah complained. Things were a bit more complicated as this one was able to turn into mist and summon bats to pester them. The battle took much longer then the battle with the male vampire, but Sarah slashed her at the shoulder, down past the ribcage, and she burst into flames and vanished.

"That's three vampires down," Sarah commented as she sheathed her sword.

"Let's have a closer look at this coffin," Carrie said. They went over, and the bottom of the coffin began to shift, it then lowered and went into one of the sides to reveal a hidden path.

"Sure is dark down there," Carrie commented.

"Maybe, but it's the only place we can go from here," Sarah added. With that they gave each other a quick glance before jumping into the opening and vanishing into the darkness.

End Chapter 2


	3. The Dark offer

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 3

The Dark offer

After falling for a little bit, our heroines landed in some underground cavern.

"Do you have any idea where we're at?" Carrie asked.

"Some type of water channel as I can hear water," Sarah replied. They walked for a little bit and turned left and continued onward. After a few more seconds, they could feel the ground shifting; the path beneath them was beginning to grumble. They managed to leap to safety before the path completely collapsed. They looked back and could see they would have fallen into a bottomless pit if they didn't react fast enough.

"Something tells me we'll come across that a lot down here," Sarah commented. They then had to climb across a ledge in order to proceed. After they made it across, they found the water Sarah was hearing in an open area. Carrie stood at the edge and looked left and right, and after a few seconds, she could smell something odd, she then bent down by the water.

"I smell poison, this water is deadly." Sarah then looked at it. "I could tell something was wrong with it," she commented. With that they went to the right and soon began to cross a bridge. To their right they could see a huge flow of water blocking the path. They were just halfway across when they heard something; they looked around and saw some bubbles in the water to their left. After a few seconds a lizard head poke out. After a few more seconds another popped out behind it, and soon they realized they were lizard men when they stood up and began to walk towards them. Carrie and Sarah began to back up as the lizard men began to climb onto the edge in front of them, they had swords and shields, and Carrie looked back and saw another one come out. "They have us surrounded," she said. Sarah then unsheathed her sword. "Maybe, but I won't go down without a fight." But before she could do anything, one of the ones in front of them ran around the corner to their left. Sarah then smirked. "Two on two, not bad odds." And with that she went for the one ahead of them while Carrie took care of the one behind them. They were a little tough because of their shields, but they managed to knock them away to apply the final blow. They rounded the corner the other lizard took, and found him standing in front of something, he then shot out a fireball from his mouth, but the shot the went down and hit the ground just a few feet from Sarah.

"Not bad fire shooting, had you aimed a little higher you might have hit me," she then held up her sword and fire shot out from the hilt and nailed the lizard right in the chest and he hit the ground with a thud. Carrie stared blankly at the sword for a few seconds, until Sarah noticed.

"You've never seen a magic sword before?" she asked. Carrie then held out her hand.

"Can I look more closely at it?" Sarah then handed it over without hesitation. Carrie then felt a bit of a power surge when her fingers wrapped around the golden handle. She looked at it closely, and could see a blue gem was placed at the hilt of the sword, when she looked more closely at it, she could see some kind of energy flowing inside.

"Where did you find this sword?" Sarah then pondered. "Some sort of alternate realm I think. I remember going through a portal of some kind, and I wondered around for awhile, until a found an old temple, and inside was some sort of mural. It was worn out so I couldn't made heads or tails of it, but the statue that was holding the sword was interesting." Carrie blinked a few times. "In what way?"

"Well, it had the same face as another statue in the room, how that makes it interesting you may ask, is because the one that wasn't holding the sword was dressed like a warrior, while the one that was dressed like a goddess." Carrie's eyes widened as she handed over the sword. "Dressed like a goddess while the other one like a warrior? That does seem a bit strange." Sarah nodded. "I'm not so sure what to make of it myself, but my best guess was is that she was once a mortal like us, but what she did that was so great to become like that, I have no idea." Carrie shook her head. "We're getting off track here." Sarah then nodded. "You're right," she agreed. And with that they went over to what the lizard man was guarding.

"He was guarding a platform?" Carrie asked. It was square platform the stuck out of the ground a few inches. Sarah thought for a moment before she placed her foot on it and the platform sank, and things quieted down a bit. They went back and just as Sarah figured; it was a switch that controlled the flow of water. They wondered around the place for a good while, they came across two sets of flowing water, and had to jump from a few platforms to reach the one of the switches, and they had to search awhile to find the other one, and they came across a very scary trap, there were two holes in front of them, and huge spikes would drop down every few seconds into the holes.

"How are we supposed to get by that?" Carrie asked. Sarah gave her a quick glance. "I'll go first, you wait here unless something happens to me," she replied. Sarah then took a deep breath, and when her chance came, she made it across. She made her way down and turned right and ran out of sight. Carrie waited nervously, and after a few minutes she saw a blue skeleton come out of the ground where Sarah would have to come back to. She then remembered what it did, and just as soon as it was about to head where Sarah was, "Exploding skeleton!" Carrie yelled, and after the skeleton ran around the corner, Sarah screamed, and then there was a big boom, and all was silent. Carrie had no idea what to do, but then Sarah came around the corner unharmed.

"Thanks for the heads up," she called. She then made her way back and they went back to where the water was flowing. They where just about to enter a narrow passage, until Carrie fell over, and Sarah looked back and saw a lizard man had grabbed her ankle, it was still part way in the water, but Carrie shot right in the head and it fell back in. They made their way down the path while more and more came after them, and they soon came across a door with a sun symbol on it, and it wouldn't budge.

"Oh no! Not another time set door!" Carrie exclaimed. Sarah looked at her wrist which had a futuristic watch on it.

"The sun won't be up for another hour!" she said.

"We don't have an hour!" Carrie protested. But at that moment Sarah remembered something, she then reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a red card with a sun symbol on it.

"Where did you get that?" Carrie asked.

"I got it from an enemy, and I hope it does what I think it does," Sarah replied. She then held up the card and it glowed brightly, and after it faded, they heard the lock on the door release. They opened the door and ran in and it slammed shut behind them.

"Do you suppose that card was a key of some kind?" Carrie asked.

"No, I think it actually advanced time," Sarah replied.

"Advanced? You mean we skipped the hour to where the sun rose?" Carrie asked.

"It's the only way I can explain it," Sarah replied. Just a second later her eyes widened when she looked down, Carrie was about to ask her something but she held up her hand.

"Don't move," she said. Carrie glanced down and there was a snake slowly slithering a few feet from her legs, and it was going around in a circle around them, and slowly closing the gap. She then saw one claw slowly come out of Sarah gauntlet, and when it was fully out, the snake had already began to wrap around her legs slightly. When its head came back into view, Sarah slashed it off and it uncurled from Carrie's legs.

"That was scary, where did that snake come from?" she asked. Sarah looked around and soon pointed.

"Off hand I'd say her," she replied. Carrie looked over and there was snake hair woman, medusa.

"Her powers weakened when she joined Dracula, which is why we're not turning into stone when we look at her," Sarah commented. They then began to battle her, and it lasted for a good while as she would summon snakes, pull out a bow and shoot three stone snakes, and when she got close to one of them, she would do a tail whip attack. Sometimes she would pull out a shield to block their attacks, and after they hit her a few times she would try and petrify them. When they figured they almost had her, she began to turn invisible. If it wasn't for the dirt floor they were fighting on, they wouldn't have any idea where she was at. It took a few tries, but Carrie managed to apply the final blow and medusa thrashed around in pain and soon fell limp on the floor. They went over to the other sun marked door and it opened as the sun was still up. They made their way to a fairly large room, but there was nothing in it really, just a hole in the ceiling where the sun could come through in a fairly big beam. But then they noticed a woman in a black dress, with red trim, and a black hat with a feather sticking out of it. Her face looked young but pale. She was holding a rather peculiar-looking staff.

"Her power is strong, it's almost terrifying. Only a child, but a true Fernandez," she said.

"Who are you?" Carrie asked.

"My name is Actrise, people would call me a witch," Actrise replied.

"You look like a witch dressed like that," Sarah commented.

"You're fairly strong too, though we may not know what you are, the both of you could be a great help," Actrise said.

"Help?" Carrie asked.

"Why don't you join us? Your power could help us to restore Dracula to his full power. I'll give you time to consider your answer. Either help in the great works, or rot in the underworld for eternity," Actrise replied before fading into thin air. Carrie and Sarah ran over to where she was and pondered what she just said.

"To restore him to his full power?" Carrie asked.

"Maybe Dracula isn't as strong as he used to be," Sarah replied. They shrugged it off and pressed onward. When they entered the new area Sarah's ears twitched.

"What now?" Carrie asked.

"I hear motors. For motorcycles I think," she replied. The path ahead of them they could go straight, or to the right, but they could tell by the door a head of them that it was locked. When they turned the corner, there were three skeletons, one on one motorcycle, two on the other. The other one had a box on one side. Sarah went after the lone rider while Carrie took on the pair. The pair had a machine gun, but it didn't do them much good when she took out the diver, and the bike kept on going, and the one in the box screamed as it went for the wall before crashing. Sarah didn't have too much trouble with hers. After they were done, there was a door to their right, and if they went further on a door to the left. They went through the door to the left and were in a room that looked like a coliseum. They walked inwards and found the body of a huge behemoth, and it was still intact.

"This thing doesn't look like it's been dead for very long, it doesn't even look injured," Sarah commented. Carrie looked in the mouth and was disgusted.

"Oh gross!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"It has a huge yellow eyeball in its mouth!" And with that Sarah took a look.

"That's not the most disgusting thing I've ever seen, but still that sure isn't pretty," she commented. They continued onward, and found a wall with a huge symbol on it, and it looked like it was ready to grumble.

"If we had some explosives, we could probably take out this wall, but we should take care of this seal first," Sarah said.

"This is a seal?" Carrie asked, and Sarah nodded.

"Just look at it, the seal isn't on the wall itself, or else the paint would be in the cracks," she replied. With that they went back into the other hall, and went through the door they passed before, and were surprised.

"Yipe! This must be the vampire training room!" Carrie exclaimed. There were quiet a few vampires in the room, and they were a little stronger then the ones before. But they managed to win the battle and press on, they walked up the stairs that were to the left of the room when they came in, and went through a gate at the top. They climbed some more stairs, and when they reached the top and turned around, there were three zombies in the room, naturally being slow and frail they went down with ease. Now there were two doors, one in front of them and one to the right. They took the right door and were in a fairly huge room, one thing that caught their attention was the indentation in the floor where two huge gears were. As they walked by them they noticed that there was a path that led out of the gears. They made there way to a bridge area and below were a bunch of lizard men. Carrie shot at them, but they blocked the shots with their shields and no matter how many times she shot, they didn't even flinch.

"These guys sure are tough," she commented, and when they began to ignore them, they shot out fireballs. Carrie stopped to try and distract them, but she then zipped down, as the small part she was standing on was a platform that would fall when stood on. But she managed to make it back up and they made it to some stairs and left the room. They traveled through a few rooms without anyone bothering them until they entered a bar area, and two vampire maids attacked them, they were much more powerful and faster them any of the rest they fought and to top it off they were insanely nimble as they flipped around all over the place. Sarah managed to flip the one that landed behind her, but the one behind Carrie grabbed her and sank her fangs into her neck. Sarah tried to get to her but the other one tried to do the same thing, but it didn't get to try and suck her blood, but detained her long enough for the one that got Carrie to get a decent drink, but then Carrie broke free and slashed at her neck multiple times until she died. After that she fell to her knees after Sarah finished off hers. When she looked over she saw Carrie was holding herself and quivering.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she walked over.

"I feel cold, faint, it hurts," Carrie replied. When Sarah got in front of her she saw she was pale.

"You're a vampire that fast?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"No. Not yet anyway. It must be a slow process seeing as to how she didn't drain a whole lot of my blood, but enough to start the process, I don't think I can even use my energy balls," Carrie replied. She then held out her hands to try and focus some energy, but nothing was happening.

"How ironic, here I am, turning into what I was fighting against." Sarah then grabbed her.

"Get a grip! You're not beaten yet! I know there is a cure around here somewhere," she protested. "How can you be so certain that there is a cure for vampirism?" "Just trust me on this one. But until we find it, you've got to fight it!" And with that they pressed on, in the other room had some interesting contraptions, but in the next room were spikes that dropped from the ceiling.

"We're going to have to time this right," Sarah commented. It was tricky, but they made it through. They entered a hallway and entered another room. It was a storage room of some kind as there were some bottles lined up across the shelves to their right, and they could see another door past the shelves. They looked around and found a note next to the bottles. It read "_Magical nitro, running with it will not cause an explosion, but one hit or jump with set it off,_" They then both gulped.

"Who is going to carry this stuff?" Sarah asked. Carrie's eyes widened.

"What would we do with it?" she asked.

"We could use this to blow up that one wall," she replied. Carrie figured it would then be best if she carried it she they made it back to the room with the interesting contraptions. They noticed it before, but Sarah then figured it would be best if she went ahead because she didn't trust the two suits of armor that were on either side of the door. She then held up her hand and made Carrie stop. When Sarah got close to one of them, it came to life, there was one with a spear, and one with a sword, the one with the spear came to life first and spun the spear around with great skill. After it was done showing off, it then began to stomp its way over. It was slow, but Sarah figured it would be tough when it got close; she managed to beat it, and then managed to take out the other one. They made their way back to the room with the lizards. Carrie walked along the bridge while Sarah kept them busy, they sure were tough, when Carrie made it across Sarah retreated as she didn't even harm any of them. Sarah had to jump to escape from the lizards and paused when she didn't see Carrie.

"Carrie? Where are you?" she called.

"Down here!" Carrie called. Sarah looked down a gap and there was Carrie. Sarah then realized that the path from the bridge led to the gears. She then reached her hand down.

"Hand me the nitro," she asked.

"And risk blowing us both to kingdom come?" Carrie asked. She then marched off before Sarah could say another word, it took her a few minutes, but the way the gears moved, Carrie made it through. They went back through the rooms they went through and placed the nitro at the bottom of the wall.

"Part one of the plan is done," Carrie said.

"Now what we should really look for is a cure for you," Sarah said.

"If one even exists," Carrie commented. They made their way back to door they didn't go through and faced many vampires until they came across a hall with stone faces that would spit out fire. They had to time it right to make it through unharmed. Sarah saw another wall that was ready to crumble, but at that moment Carrie fell over.

"Oh no!" Sarah exclaimed as she quickly bent down and lifted Carrie a little.

"Are you ok? Speak to me!" she called.

"I think I'm suffering from blood loss," Carrie managed to let out. Sarah knew she had to find the cure fast, so she entered a door that was in front of them, and it was a fairly big room, but a bit empty, except for the unarmed lizard man in the room. Sarah quickly set down Carrie and drew her sword as she ran for the lizard. But he saw her coming and quickly held up his hands and cried, "Wait! I'm a human!" Sarah stopped right as she held the blade over her head ready to let loose a mighty swing but blinked blankly as to how he spoke perfect English.

"I'm only this shape because of a curse," he added. Sarah then sheathed her sword.

"Good thing you spoke when you did, I might have killed you," she commented. He then noticed Carrie on the floor.

"She is turning into a vampire isn't she?" he asked. Sarah then ran to her and picked her up and brought her over.

"Is there something we can do?" she asked, Carrie almost dead.

"I found this in one of the rooms, it may cure her," he replied as he pulled out a round sphere object that was glowing. It glowed even brighter when it was close to Carrie, and it then broke and the light flowed into her, after the light faded the wounds on her neck vanished and color slowly returned to her skin. After a few seconds her eyes opened.

"A moment longer and we would have lost you," the lizard said.

"Thank you sir," Carrie said as she looked over, and screamed when she saw him.

"He's like this because of a curse," Sarah said. Carrie looked at him for a few seconds; he actually looked more pleasant then the others they saw. She then let out a sigh of relief, but then began to sway, she almost fell over but he caught her.

"I think you've lost quiet a bit of blood," he said. Sarah then held out her hand and a light formed, after the light faded Carrie felt much better.

"I didn't think it would replace lost blood," she commented.

"It fixes almost any wound," Sarah replied.

"You two must be adventurers, here take this key," he said as he held out a key.

"What room is this for?" Sarah asked as she took it.

"It's for the torture chamber. Inside you will find some mandragora, you will need this if you wish to set off the nitro safely," he replied. They figured it was the first door they saw when they first entered this area. There were two doors in the room; one was boarded up, the other still accessible. They went inside and were in the same room they were in before with the nitro. They walked over and found Malus on the other side.

"Malus? What re you still doing here? We thought you had escaped," Carrie said.

"This place? Escape?" Malus asked.

"Say, are you going to fight Dracula? Aren't you afraid?" he then asked. They were a bit speechless, but he continued.

"Are you here to avenge my family, to rescue my friends?" he then asked.

"You can count on us Malus!" Sarah replied.

"I swear we will defeat Dracula and avenge you parents!" Carrie added. Malus then began to laugh, and they were a little confused. But then his eyes changed color.

"Impossible! Want to know why? Because you are trapped! And you will die like wretches!" he said.

"Malus? What has gotten into…" Carrie didn't get to finish.

"Into the kingdom of darkness, where no wretched sunlight comes!" he said while running off.

"Malus, what has happened to you?" Sarah asked. This time Sarah took the nitro and they placed it at the wall they walked past. And made their way back and noticed that in one of the rooms, they walked by an elevator.

"I didn't even notice this here," Carrie commented. She then went over to the door and tried to open it.

"No luck." Sarah then noticed a switch and pressed it, nothing happened.

"It looks like this thing is out a juice," she commented. Carrie then noticed a statue in the room and went over to it. After looking at it she saw it had a number on it. But after a few seconds a red liquid came out of the eyes and went down onto the floor, it stopped a few feet from Carrie, and after a few seconds, it partly formed into a human. It only took a few hits to take it down, so they made their way to the torture chamber. When they unlocked the door and went inside, they found one whole zombie, two half zombies, and one hopper. They went down without to much of a fuss, and they took the mandragora and made it back to the second wall they placed nitro at. And found another statue with a number along the way.

"This is the one area we've been in the longest," Carrie commented.

"You're right, this place is driving me nuts," Sarah agreed. They soon reached the wall they placed the nitro in front of, and placed the mandragora next to it. They ran around the corner after placing it, and energy began to stir between the two bottles and it got stronger and stronger. After a few minutes there was a loud boom and the whole room shook. After the dust faded there was a huge hole in the wall. They entered another area and soon found another statue with another number. The room was a rather odd setup, but ghosts began to appear and the only way to progress was to climb some ledges. They reached the top and had no idea where to go as there were no doors or anything, just an odd pillar in the middle of the area. Carrie hopped onto it to try and get a better view of the area, and when she stood up part of the ceiling opened above her head. They climbed through and were in a small room with another pillar to stand on. Doing the same thing they entered a rather big room. It was a blue room with white stars connected with light lines to try and make constellations. In the middle of the room was a platform with many spots to place something and in the middle of the platform was a pedestal. And next to the platform was a pedestal with three small statues that looked like the big ones they found scattered around. Sarah looked at the base of the statues and at the spots on the platform; she figured they had to be placed in a particular order. She placed them in numerical order, 2, 4, and 8. After a few seconds the pedestal in the middle began to have light shine through, and it got brighter and brighter, so bright that they had to shield their eyes with their arms. After the light sort of dimmed down they looked and there was a ball of light rising. It kept on getting higher and higher, and after it paused for a little bit, it whizzed over their heads and went through the wall behind them. After a few seconds the place began to shake a little for a good few minutes.

"I think it's a safe bet that light broke that seal on the wall we saw," Sarah commented. They trekked all the way back to the torture chamber and got another bottle of mandragora and walked past the dead behemoth again and placed the bottle next to the nitro. They ran back a bit to avoid getting blown up and this time saw the explosion. After the smoke cleared there was a huge hole in the wall and through the hole was a huge white crystal floating over a huge pedestal. They went over to it and saw a small gold crystal at the base of the pedestal. Carrie gave it a light touch and the huge crystal made a loud hum and began to glow different colors.

"I think it is now giving power to the elevator," Sarah commented. They turned around and walked a few feet out of the small room and the place shook. Every few seconds the room shook and they could see some dust rising. They didn't even have to think hard about it, the behemoth was alive, and was heading right for them. It stopped when it was only about ten feet away, but on how huge he was he looked closer than that. They didn't have to talk to each other about the fact that range is the best thing to deal with this guy. They split up and ran to each side of the room and he ran after Sarah. The battle was a little tricky as he would stop and shoot out three different attacks, two beam attacks and some poison spit. After hammering on him for awhile it began to loose some flesh and Sarah had to stop attacking it as the poison was seeping out. After a few more hits it lost its legs and one more blow took it out. Though they were both tired they pressed on and entered the vampire training room again, but this time Actrise was waiting for them.

"Have you considered your answer?" she asked. "Ah, but the sight of your faces tells me everything," she added.

"We will destroy Dracula, oppose us and we must destroy you too!" Carrie said.

"You have spirit girl. But your opponent today is not me," Actrise said.

"If you're not going to fight us, then who is?" Sarah asked. Carrie then noticed someone floating in the right corner of the room, and she felt something in the air. Sarah could feel it too, and noticed that Carrie was holding herself and trembling.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"No…it can't be…what have you done?" Carrie asked. The figure was then floating closer.

"She was a Fernandez too, she came here to fight the Dark Lord," Actrise replied. Sarah then realized why Carrie was acting the way she was, this was her cousin that went missing.

"We took her alive, and made her into a vampire," Actrise continued. "She fought mightily against the curse, but now she is fully a vampire, hungry for blood. What joy this is, two cousins fighting to the death!" Actrise then faded away while laughing. At this point Carrie's cousin was in the middle of the room, and she was still trembling. Sarah then shook her violently.

"Snap out of it! You have to face facts; the cousin you once knew is gone. All that is left is that monster using her body!" she yelled. Carrie looked over and tears began to fill her eyes.

"Forgive me…" and the battle started. Her cousin was using a staff and her power was a bit stronger then hers, and the battle was tough. She was actually able to shoot out three energy balls, and whenever one of them was close, she would spin while a cold fog would form around her to try and freeze them. Carrie did get frozen once, but she broke free just as her cousin tried to smash her with the staff and she hit her with both her rings hard and fast. After she hit her one more time she just floated there, no emotion, no nothing, just floating there, until light began to shine from her body, and she soon faded away. Carrie walked over to where she once was, and fell to her knees and covered her face.

"I'm sorry…I'm sorry I couldn't save you… forgive me…" she sobbed. Sarah then placed a hand on her shoulder.

"She has already forgiven you for freeing her from that body, now all that is left is to free her spirit from this castle by killing its owner," she said.

"You sort of understand what it is like to lose someone close to you, but not by losing them by killing them," Carrie cried. Sarah then let out a sigh.

"My mother would understand. She killed her sister," she spoke softly. They stayed there for a few minutes, and then went to the elevator and Sarah pressed the switch again, and this time there was a powering up noise. The door opened and they stepped inside and the elevator went up to the top. When it stopped there was a bridge they had to cross. They ran across and avoided the ghosts and went through the huge doorway and vanished into the darkness. However they didn't realize someone was watching them. He was wearing full body armor that covered his whole body and face, and on the sides of his head were long points that stuck straight up. and he took out the ghosts with one swing from his energy sword and an energy slash shot out and got them all.

"Such a powerful numan girl, I wonder who her mother and father were?" he asked. He then vanished into the shadows.

End Chapter 3


	4. The Two Towers and the Showdown

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 4

The Two Towers and the Showdown

After walking for a few minutes, our heroines found themselves in what appeared to be a tower of some kind, one made of machinery from the looks of it. It was dubbed the Tower of Science. As there were a lot of loud noises in the room, it was hard for Sarah to figure which ones were signs of danger. Right now they were in front of a huge towering pillar. They were on a platform that led to the pillar and to the right of that were some stairs. When they reached the top they had to turn right. Now things seemed normal except for the gaps they had to jump in order to proceed. Carrie was just about to jump but Sarah grabbed her, and she was about to ask what she was doing but then electricity formed in front of her above the gap. Looking to the left there was a peculiar device on the wall that was the source of the electricity.

"We have to be very, very careful with our timing, or else we'll fall down who knows how far," Sarah commented. They made their way across and climbed a few sets of stairs. After one more set the loud humming noise of some sort that Sarah was hearing was getting louder. When Carrie placed her foot on the top and was just raising her other foot, she was pulled forward and almost lost balance because of the sudden motion. Sarah looked down before stepping up and saw why that happened, and why it was still happening.

"Conveyer belts," it was a little tricky to make it across as they had to jump over a spot where two conveyer belts met and one was going towards the other one. Of course what made it a real challenge was that huge spike covered boxes would come out of some holes in the side of the wall onto the belts. When they got onto the stairs they took a little breather. While they were resting they heard some kind of grinding noise and looked up and coming down the stairs was a spike box. Sarah jumped towards the wall while Carrie went to the edge of the stairs to the right as the box whizzed by and bounced off the conveyor belt at the bottom. Sarah saw Carrie was trying to keep balance and was about ready to fall, but she stabilized and jumped over to her just in case another box was coming down. They continued going up the tower and had to avoid some odd shaped boxes before they could take another rest, this time at the top of this area.

"That was a bit scary," Carrie said while she plopped down.

"At least we're past that part, it should be fairly simple once we take the elevator up," Sarah commented. After a few minutes they took the small elevator up, and when it reached the top, they were in an empty room, or they thought it was empty until they took a few steps in and a gun turret came out of the floor and shot at them. It was a bit tough to beat, but they managed. They took the door to the left and entered a narrow hallway. Another turret was waiting for them, and they encountered a few more by making some turns here and there. They just barely avoided getting caged and getting shot at by a hyper turret that appeared when the bars came down. To the right of that was a bridge and on the wall to the far left, were a whole mess of turrets. It took a lot of careful timing to make it through that mess, but they did it. In the next room were some hoppers, possibly the weakest enemy in the castle they thought. After taking a few of them out they came across a split path that went left and right. They took the right and found a locked door. This time they tried to open it because they didn't see a lock of a sort on the door. Turning back and going to the other path, they went up some stairs to another door, this time unlocked. Inside was probably one of the though jumping challenges in the castle, as they would have to jump at angles and avoid the blasts from the turrets that hanged from the ceiling. At the far end of the room was a narrow passage with three turrets, two on one wall, and one on the other. At they far end they could see a key. If they got shot and knocked down they didn't have that far to fall, but enough to cause some injury. Sarah went across and got the key and made it back. Going past the insane defenses again they managed to make it back across. They used the key on the door and entered another narrow passageway. After making some twists and turns, they entered a huge round room that was flashing red, with a huge floating crystal in the middle. Around it were some turrets that went up and down. Some of them shot bullets, while some shot out energy. To get too the crystal, they would have to cross a bridge, and figure out how to shutdown the barrier around it. Sarah was going for it while Carrie took care of the turrets. After one was disabled, the barrier went down. Sarah got her chance and hammered on it until the whole thing chattered. The whole place seemed to shut down afterward. They found the door that led to the next area. Carrie went through first and Sarah was just about to follow, but she thought she heard some footsteps, but it went silent, she surveyed the area and didn't see anyone, and nothing appeared to happening, so she just pressed on. After she left the figure that was watching them from before rounded the corner.

"They are both doing well. The human I know is from this time, but how did that numan get here? She looks somehow familiar," he commented. After a few minutes of blackness, they entered a dark area, where the light came from they had no idea as to how the place seems to dark. They have no idea where they're even at, or how high they are, as there were huge pillars they could see, and they were standing on some kind of crystal floor. The path was narrow and to continue to another spot, they had to jump to other crystal platforms. Seeing as to how some of the crystals had some energy and that the red ones would fade away, then back, and the ones around the pillars would circle around it while spinning, this was some kind of Tower of Sorcery. They started down that path, and a crystal liquid came towards them, and sprouted into a somewhat human shape, it then spat some stuff at them, but missed. It didn't last that long as Sarah just nailed it with one hard swing from her sword. They went onward and faced many hard jumping parts that required very precise timing. After going on the spinning platforms a few time they got a little dizzy. They came across a huge platform with floating crystals; they didn't take any chances and smashed them. They rested a little bit and noticed some stain glass windows. That was all they could even see, they couldn't even see the wall they were on. They went onward and had to cross a bridge with the crystals with energy in them, and they went back and forth over the bridge while forming electricity. It took a little bit of doing but they made it across and they found a huge crystal that would shoot at them. They came across a few more like that while having to do some more very precise jumping. They soon reached the top and could see the wall with the exit and went for it. They soon entered a room fool of clocks, and there was a sealed door, and another hallway. They rested in the room for awhile to gather their strength. Carrie figured now would be a good time to try and strike up a decent conversation, and Sarah actually started.

"So what do you do for a living?" Sarah asked.

"Me? Not much. I just lived a normal life until this whole thing with Dracula started, other than that; I don't live a very interesting life. How about you?" she asked.

"Oh wow, where to begin? Well, my childhood I lived normally, but when I became of age, I started to train with my brother by our parents." Carrie blinked blankly a few times.

"You're parents trained you?" Sarah ran her hand through her hair.

"Well, they weren't the only ones training their kids; even my dads' friends were training their kids."

"What for?" Sarah looked at her claws.

"To fight any evil that shows up. It's sort of destiny when you think about it." Carrie cocked her head.

"Destiny?" Sarah then pulled out her sword.

"One of the many things my father taught me is that there are two kinds of fate to each person, one fate is the set one if they don't do anything about it, the second one is the one they must earn, so go for the one you earn."

"Sounds like your father was one heck of a guy."

"He sure did fight for a long, long time, I'm just glad he passed on in peaceful times, the kind of peace we all fight for."

"Just how long did he fight before he met your mother?" Sarah tapped the tip of the sword on the floor a few times.

"That I'm a bit uncertain. Let me think…throwing in a few things of consideration, he fought for well over a hundred years."

"Over a hundred years!? How is that possible?" Sarah then began to run the tips of her claws across the floor.

"He along with his friends wound up transcending time a few times. Heck, it's actually due to the fact that time flows differently in each part of the universe." Carrie looked up.

"Different parts of the universe?"

"The people on this planet haven't gotten that far to be able to travel that stars yet. After all, this is the planet where he gathers a lot of his pals from." Carrie then looked at her hands, then at her rings.

"Just how many battles await us on the planet?"

"You don't have to worry. You'll be long gone by the time he arrives here."

"Just how are you so certain that your father is coming here?"

"As I told you before, I knew one of your descendents, she was one of the ones that teams up with my father." Carrie then leaned forward most interested.

"One of my grandchildren joins with your father?"

"Most interestingly enough, she was named after you." Carrie then leaned back against the wall in shock.

"She was named after me?" Sarah then moved her leg to where she could rest her hand on it and rested her head there too.

"And I can see why, she looked almost exactly like you when they first met."

"She did?"

"The hair, the eyes, the face, heck, even the voice was similar."

"That sounds like an exact replica of me."

"Or as some people from my time might put it, a clone."

"When did your father and mother meet?" Sarah then leaned back against the wall and placed a hand on her face and a big smile came on, she even blushed a little.

"Now that is one heck of a love bond that defied even death. But when they first met it was when my mother was…how do I put? She was sort of in an imperfect state. As I told you before, the first numans were created, how you may ask is that they were made with mostly human D.N.A. and a little bit of bio monster and a bit of Musk Cat which is why our ears are the way they are. Man, this is a bit of painful memories but the first numan was actually my mother's sister, which took a bit more bio monster as her skin was blue. There was one major defect in her D.N.A. that they didn't know about, but actually there were two major defects, one was the one where they could only live for a few short years, and the other was that her emotions were a bit jazzed up. How you may ask is that when the ones that made her considered all the creations a failure and were going to destroy them, she killed them all. It was in self-defense as who would want to be killed when they haven't been around that long? Of course doing so resulted in the bio monsters getting loose and caused the humans to form hunter guilds. Being as to how different she was from everyone else, she was shunned and almost killed several times. This is where her emotions start to go haywire, after almost getting killed so many times she began to despise the humans, and wanted to seek revenge. There was a device called climate control, and as you know, climate stands for weather. She had obviously heard about this from the ones that created her, and figured it would be the best way to get revenge, heck, the place even had the means to create more bio monsters, so she was pretty much set. While on her way to the climate control tower, her good side was trying to tell her to stop, but she was dead set in her plan. Now here is the major flaw, her good side couldn't stand what she was about to do, and somehow managed to separate from her. Before you ask she told me she had no idea how she did it either, but it was a major flaw she could take advantage of, but with one little quirk, she was in child form while the primary body was still full grown. But she managed to escape and was able to live with those who had once worked with the people that worked on the neitype project and took her in, but the people found out and were blinded by fear and hate and killed them while she just barley got away. After being on the run for awhile, she soon met my father, who had crashed landed on that planet. They both met with a kind hearted hunter and took them into his home. The people of his town were a bit more understanding and didn't mind her. My father stayed with them for about eight months, and as I told you, she had an age flaw and looked about my age before he was able to leave. My father sort of made a promise if fate aloud it, they would meet again."

"That sounds complicated. I already can figure out that they met again somehow, but what happened with the climate control tower?"

"It's a bit to hard to explain, but I can tell you this, the threat of that tower has not yet left this world. As a matter of fact if my theory is correct, this time takes place before that." "So all that you told has yet to come to pass?" "Yeah, but right now I'm not even sure my father in reborn yet."

"Reborn?"

"Long story. But he might even still be in his first life, but I can't be sure. But one thing I can tell you is, that the threat of that tower I told you about, will come to this planet one day, and that descendant I told you about, gets caught up in a battle that revolves around it a bit."

"But what about that first numan?"

"Passed away peacefully."

"That's a load off my mind." While they sat there, Carrie finally noticed one detail about Sarah that she didn't notice before. On her forehead, was a small circlet, at the center were three bright pick gems. The middle one was bigger then the other two, and there was a tiny bit of gold around them which held them in place. Now that she saw it, it actually stood as it was the only thing that wasn't blue, besides her gray gauntlets and gold sword.

"Where did you get that circlet?"

"This? It was a present from my father. He gave it to me when I was about twelve or so."

"It sure it pretty, I wonder how he got it?"

"He told me he got it from someone he saved a long time ago. As a matter of fact she fought along side him too."

"Wow, it must have been a farewell gift then."

"Well, we've rested enough; let's see what's down that path."

"(I can't exactly tell her the whole future.)" Sarah then thought and with that they went down that passage, and came across an elevator. They took it up and were on top of a tower close to the clock tower. It was a fairly open area, and in one spot was Actrise.

"You surprise me. To be able to defeat the Fernandez warrior. It's still not to late, offer your allegiance to Dracula. It is a simple matter; slay the lives of a hundred children. I slew my own child to attain this gift of eternal life!" she exclaimed joyfully.

"My mother, and step mother, they both loved me, they cared for me, and they both showed me happiness. But your child, never received any love from her mother…that's pathetic," Carrie said.

"Oh dear…you make me so sad, looking at me that same way as my child did. I love no one in this world other than myself! I gauge out your hearts as gifts for my lord!" Actrise exclaimed. This battle was a bit tricky, as she just floated in one spot while huge crystals would come out from the ground around her in a circle, making it very difficult to hit her. She would try and make some huge crystals appear beneath their feet to try and impale them, along with sending out a swarm of flying shards to try and distract them. The battle was a bit long, but they managed to work together quiet well, Sarah would smash one of the crystals, and Carrie would shoot soon after and landing a hit. After each hit all the crystals would break, and new ones would appear, and after awhile they got bigger and took more hits to break. After one last blow, she staggered back while holding her face.

"Impossible! You have defeated me! Me!! Me!!" she exclaimed as she thrashed in pain. She then uncovered her face and it was no longer a good sight to look at. She was then incased in a blue crystal, and faded just before it shattered.

"We have the power to subdue Dracula himself. He only used you to delay us. Dracula prince of evil, only you I can never forgive!" Carrie yelled as she looked at the tower where he waited. They went back to the elevator and through the door that was sealed before, and made it into the clock tower. The place was a bit complicated because they had to make their way across gears, and find keys to the doors. After going through a few rooms, they went through one more door and Carrie took a few and almost fell forward as they were on a platform. They made their way down and had to do some very complicated timed jumps, but they managed to make it through and went through a few rooms with jumpers. They reached one room with stairs in front of them. They led to a door at the top. They went up the stairs and went through the door and were on the face of the clock. They were on the right side and could see another door on the left side, but they couldn't reach it because the hand that they would need wasn't in the proper spot to be able to do that. But they did find another key there, and went through another locked door. In this room they had to avoid flame throwers and a spinning blade at the top. It took them a few minutes to get to the top as they had to flick a switch in order to be able to proceed. After making it past all that they went through the door at the top and had to do more timed jumps. They soon reached the far end of the room and there was a ramp that led down. They looked down it and saw holes in it, and a board sticking out that they could slide down to. They slid down to the board and made their way all the way down to a platform they couldn't reach without doing. There was a switch and they turned it and a whole bunch of gears turned and the one hand of the clock moved to where they could go all the way across. After that was done the railing to their left went down and they slid down and went back up the stairs and made it across to the other door and were soon at the stairs that led to Dracula. They gave each other a quick glance before climbing up the stairs. They reached the top and opened the door to a bland empty room. Not exactly sure what it was for, but they went over to the other door across from them and just as they were about to open it, a voice they hadn't heard in awhile spoke.

"At last, we've reached the climax," it was Renon. He then topped his hat before speaking again.

"I was hoping to do business with you, but think you didn't trust me," he said.

"Sorry, but I don't trust anyone with a devils tail," Sarah replied.

"Very well then, I bid you farewell, we will not meet again. Not during your lifetime anyway," and with that he took one last look at his watch before fading into mist again.

"We did find a few of those scrolls, but we never looked at them," Carrie commented.

"Even though I do have money, I'm not going to pay a demon for stuff. Even if he is polite and did wear a fancy business suit," Sarah replied. Note, in the game, if you pay Renon over 30,000 he will fight you at this point, Shrugging off what just happened they went out the door and climbed more stairs and went through another door into a bland empty room. They went to the door across from them and this time, nothing happened. Note, in the game, if you take more then seven days to get here, you will fight Charlie Vincent and get the bad ending, They went trough and climbed more stairs and this time they could see torches while they climbed up. When they reached the top, it looked more fancy then the others. This was the place fore sure. They opened the door and this time a gate slammed behind them, the room was fairly big. There was a red carpet that led from the door to some steps and at the top of the steps was a coffin. It looked like they arrived just in time to kill Dracula while he was in his slumber. They slowly walked over to the coffin and Sarah slowly drew her sword. She then held it ready to impale the count in the heart, and gave Carrie a quick gesture, Carrie then took careful hold of the lid, took a deep breath, and then lifted the lid and Sarah went in for the kill but paused. Carrie looked and there was no one inside. They quickly whipped around and no one was in the room, just an eerie silence. After a few minutes a voice spoke, Carrie recognized it from the castle gate.

"So you've come, is it death you seek?" Dracula asked as he materialized from some mist in midair. He then slowly floated to the ground and didn't even make a sound when he landed.

"Very well, I'll tear you limb from limb!" He said before shooting out a fire wave at them, but they dodged it with ease as they saw it coming. He then faded in and out quiet a bit before trying to unleash an attack. One was letting out three fire bats, another was sending out two shock waves, one from the feet, and from the waist. One attack was when he would hold out his arms and a flow of air would pull them towards him so he could try and suck their blood. Even when he was able to let out an attack, they could still avoid with fairly good ease, and he took nine good hits to the head from them. After the final hit he staggered back and held his chest, with blood coming from a few spots on his body. He then soon began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Carrie asked.

"So…you thought you had won? Ha! To save the world is not so simple…miserable upstarts, how dare you oppose my evil might! Die weak fools!" he yelled before grabbing hold of his head and staggering back a few more steps, and a light began to emanate from him body. When they light was about to reach its peek, he yelled before erupting, and after the light faded all that was left was his cape that was floating down to the ground. It land just in front of the steps that led to the coffin and it burst into flames. They both let out a sigh of relief, but then the place began to shake, and dust and pits of the room began to fall. The shaking only got worse and worse, Sarah realized what was up. "Run!" she yelled as she turned around, and Carrie quickly followed and the gate opened up and just a few seconds after they made it out the place behind them fell. To gain the best speed they jumped down the steps and dashed through the room and when they were out they jumped again, the whole place was falling apart behind them. They made it through the room and just when they were a few steps down, Sarah heard something whizzing through the air.

"Stop!" she yelled. They both stopped and a knife hit the step in front of them. Looking where it came from, they saw Malus riding a demon unicorn. Its body was a black color and its hair was white like its horn, and it had demon like wings. They both then rode out of sight. It took them a little bit to remember that they were running as the steps began to shake like mad. They ran down and saw an elevator to the left of the door, and they could see the door was locked. When they were close enough they jumped to the elevator and rode it up to the top of the tower. They went to the center and Malus soon arrived. The aura of dark energy emanating from him felt more powerful then Dracula, and Sarah had a pretty good idea why, as the one they faced before didn't quiet have the energy level as her father described, where as the one from Malus did.

"This dark energy is more powerful than Dracula's foul aura, Malus what are you?" Carrie asked.

"You have defeated my servant, I did not aspect such power, enough! Now you face the Dark Lord himself," Malus said, his eyes were like they were when he ran off before.

"Your servant? But then that means you're…" Carrie paused. At that moment, a light began to form around him, and it got so bright they had to shield their eyes, and after it faded, standing there was a grown man. His skin was pale, and he had two scars on both sides of his face, both going straight down. He looked young and strong.

"So you thought you could defeat me? Imbeciles! You have destroyed my servant, the guardian of my sleeping spirit. I never would have though it would last so long, ah the wasted year. I live again! Miserable worms, your rightful ruler has returned!" Dracula boasted.

"You sure are full of yourself," Sarah commented.

"You…you're the most interesting creature I've seen. And those eyes, full of courage, and determination," Dracula commented.

"And it won't be that last time you see these eyes!" Sarah yelled.

"Hmpf! Down on you knees before the might of Dracula, oppose me and die!" Dracula replied. He then faded in a bright pillar of light. His attacks were a heck of a lot more powerful then his servant, as his fireballs homed in on them. His shockwave attack was reversed from the other one. One new attack was where he did a hand gesture towards the ground and flames rose up in a huge circle, and he did it again and a pillar of fire would appear at one of their feet. It was hard to hit him as multiple lights would appear in a bunch of spots. When Sarah applied the final blow, he staggered back and fell onto his knees; he sat there for a moment, and then fell flat on his face. Energy formed around him and when it faded Malus was back. He looked up and he looked normal.

"Where am I? What happened to me?" he asked. He obviously lost some memories. Carrie went over and was about to help him up, but a bottle of Holy Water broke right in front of her and Malus got burned while she wasn't affected. Sarah looked back and there was Charlie.

"Ha! Your appearance does not fool me! Do you not understand? This child is really Dracula! Try and stop me would you?" he asked.

"What the heck are you babbling about? We never tried to stop you!" Sarah exclaimed. Malus then spoke with Dracula's voice.

"Miserable humans, how long do you think you can oppose me?" he asked. And all of a sudden Sarah and Carrie felt disoriented. They soon realized they were in some kind of void, it looked like a desert. Clouds were flowing in the sky and they didn't look quiet right. They looked around and couldn't find anything. Sarah then noticed a shadow beginning to loom over them. They looked up and there was Dracula in a rather odd form, he had a dragon like head and gargoyle like upper torso, but a rather odd looking lower torso. It looked like a long tail with scorpion like legs on the sides. He slowly floated to the ground while growling, and he shook the place when he landed. His attacks were fast and hard. He would swing twice sending out waves of sand, focus energy into floating spheres that would multiply as when struck and result in a huge explosion. He would even send out dragon like serpent spirits that would go into the sand and sprout out and try to harm them. It was hard to get close with his swing attack and he would breathe fire. The battle was long and fierce, and after awhile, Sarah held up her sword and lighting struck Dracula multiple times, but he still kept going. Carrie then pulled a cross that she had and tossed it with all her might, and it nailed him in the chest and he froze. He wasn't even moving or breathing, he was still like a statue. After a few minutes the whole place began to shake and Sarah and Carrie almost fell over but Dracula was unaffected. The shaking soon stopped and they could hear the sound of wind blowing. They looked around to try and figure out what was going on, but didn't see anything. Sarah just noticed some dust fly by through the corner of her eye; they then looked down and saw some dust flowing past them as well as small amounts of sand flowing slightly over their feet. Then the wind picked up and almost knocked them over, the wind seemed to be focused on Dracula, he then roared in pain and thrashed as energy began to for beneath him. His roaring continued after the energy was at its peek and he began to sink into it. The wind was intense, threatening to pull Carrie and Sarah in, but they fought against it. It took awhile, but soon all that could be seen was Dracula's head, and soon the energy turned red and a beam pointed towards the sky, and fragments of the earth along with Dracula who was being torn apart rose up into nothing and the wind died down. All that was left were the two warriors and silence. Then the thought came to mind on how to get out of there, but they felt that disoriented feeling again and they were on a cliff where they could see the castle. They both fell to their knees and watched as the castle began to shake and crumble, and it soon vanished into the ocean. Many hours passed and Carrie was standing next to a villager who brought her to a certain spot by horse carriage. She was holding some flowers.

"It's been a year since you've visited your mother's grave?" he asked.

"Yes it has," she replied.

"I'll gladly take you up the hill if you want."

"Thank you. But I'd rather walk the rest of the way." And with that the man rode off. Carrie then started her walk up the hill, and at the top was her mother's grave. When she was in front of it she knelt down in front of it for a few minutes before placing the flowers. She stood up while still looking at it and the words that Sarah told her before she left echoed.

"The pain of a loved one will never really fade, but it will heal over time, what you do with that time is up to you, as you know I can relate to the loss, but there was one that could relate better than I."

"I understand, I know of a few ways to help mend the pain."

"That's good."

"I've been thinking, I'll write a diary, and leave some stuff for that descendant you told me about."

"Very well then, but I should warn you, do not include me in those writings."

"Why?"

"Because my father will find that diary."

"Does he read it?"

"No, but maybe if you leave some very important instructions for that person, but now that I think about, the way she looked at me, it's as if she knew I was to come about." "The future is going to be an interesting place."

"It sure is, I'm glad to have met you."

"I'm glad to have met you two, good bye."

"Take care now." Carrie then made her way back to the village and was greeted by Hennery.

"I see you made it back," he said.

"What have you been doing lately? You look like you just got back from a battle," Carrie commented. His suit did look a little mangled.

"Well, I went to the castle and rescued the children that were held captive," he replied.

"All of them?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, you really are brave."

"Also I found a woman named Rosa in there and brought her back as well."

"Rosa? Is she human?"

"Of course she's human."

"The curse must have been broken then." How ever before Sarah fully left, she encountered the person that was following her and Carrie.

"I know you," Sarah said.

"I find that hard to believe, but then again, I guess that is possible now that I know who your mother is," he commented.

"I know I have her face and figure."

"I think I can understand how you got my hair, but those eyes…where have I seen those? They're not Rolf's."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out some time in the future."

"Perhaps I will."

"This will not be the last time we meet. But I won't know you then, but you will know me."

"So I'll meet your past self? Interesting." And with that they were both enveloped in bright lights and were gone.

End Chapter 4


	5. The coming of Disaster

This chapter has small amounts of talking at the beginning, so there is very little talking until close to the end. And this chapter is a bit violent in some parts, so this is not for those who don't like blood. So I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5

The coming of Disaster

Destiny… there are many events that are called "Destiny" but there is one destiny, that must be avoided. It is called the Destiny of Destruction. There are many times when this destiny almost came about, but someone was always able to stop it. Some people are able to change fate itself. However, on one planet, during a certain point in time, the means to bring about the Destiny of Destruction are fulfilled. But there are those who can stop this event, they are called the Children of Destiny. They are descendents of great warriors, better known as Heroes. One of these children has blue eyes, just like her father, who was possibly the greatest hero who ever lived. This warrior would travel time and space, before finding another great warrior, who would then become the Eternal Guardian. But the guardian is in a state of slumber, waiting to be reawakened. And Sarah's father will awaken this person way before Sarah is born. Sarah's journey has already begun through time; now, this is where her father's story begins.

It was a quiet day, on a planet that a colony of humans inhabited to escape the harshness of their former home. They lived simple lives, as they figured it would be best not to repeat the same mistakes they did before. A father of one of the Children of Destiny can be found here. His name was Rock. He was around his teens now. His hair was short and brown, and his eyes a nice shade of blue. He had other siblings, an older brother and a younger sister. His brother's name was Jack, his eyes were a much darker blue and his hair was black. His sister's name was Roll. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were green. Rock's father name was Mark. Rock looked like his father when he was younger. But Rock's mother had a very odd name; it was Demona. But the name aside, she was very kind and cared for her children. She and Mark smiled as they watched out the window of their home as Rock made his was to the castle. He had been summoned by the king. The customs were very interesting; when someone reached a certain age, they would be able to talk with the king and give him advice or just have a nice chat. Some of them actually wound up working at the castle depending on what they talked about.

On his way to the castle, Rock ran by a home of a recently married couple, Jacob and Irene Aran. Rock was good friends with Jacob and was at one point in love with Irene. Irene liked them both, but she chose the one she truly loved. Rock didn't mind, he knew she followed what was in her heart, and he knew that was what mattered.

The king was originally one of the governors, but he handled things so well he was eventually crowned king.

Rock reached the castle and was let in. He then entered the throne room where the king sat and knelt down before him.

"You summoned me, your majesty?" Rock asked.

"Yes, I did," the king replied as Rock stood up.

"What did you wish to talk with me about?"

"As I ruled this kingdom," said the king, "I began to wonder if there are many other kingdoms like us, who traveled the stars. Do you think such a thing is possible?"

"Anything is possible," replied Rock.

"I guess you're right. But what should we do if they come here?"

"The best things to do, offer peace and hope they don't double-cross us."

"One other thing, have you heard of artifacts?"

"Yeah, what do you want to know about them?"

"Well, you know that some of them have magic powers right?"

"Kind of," said Rock.

"I know there are many kinds of powers, but what if one could give one person the power of dominance over all others(1)?"  
" Even if the person's intentions were good, it is still enslaving others. It is taking away their freewill."

"You have studied well, in terms of fairness and honor. How would you like to serve by my side?" the king asked.

"I would be honored," Rock replied as he bowed his head. Due to how well Rock did his duties, his whole family was able to join; very few ever had that privilege.

A few years later, a ship landed close to the castle. A man followed by many others stepped out of the ship. They looked human, but had slightly pointed ears. They were all dressed in royal robes, the one in the lead was about in his fifties, and he had short brown hair, and a small beard and mustache. Standing next to him was a young girl, a little older than Rock by the looks of it.

"Greetings," the man started. "I am king Hirocon. And this is my eldest daughter, Mica."

Mica then bowed her head; she had brown hair, too.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," she said.

"We are a race called the Argonians, we have come to make peace," Hirocon said. The king then shook his hand.

"I am the ruler of this kingdom, I must say I wasn't expecting people like you to show up," he said. The kings then went to the castle as Rock walked over to Mica. Rock was a tiny bit nervous, he had always read about princesses, but he never thought he would meet one.

"Hello, I'm Rock, one of the servants at the castle," he said.

"It is a pleasure," Mica said as she held out her hand, palm down. Rock remembered it was proper etiquette whenever a person of royalty does that, you're supposed to kiss their hand, and he did.

"So what brings your kind here?" Rock asked.

"We're going around making peace with the other kingdoms. It is a good way to avoid all out war," Mica replied. Rock figured that was the best way. Heck, which was what he told the king not to long ago. Rock showed her around the kingdom and she commented on how similar they lived. Many other kingdoms came and went over the next few months. One of the last few was real interesting, the Kingdom of Shi'ar, better known as the Shi'ar Empire. There were two siblings with this king, a brother and sister. D'ken, and Lilandra. D'ken was silent and followed the two kings, while Rock showed Lilandra around. One thing that Rock noticed about the ones that looked the most human, they all had the same hairstyle, regardless of gender.

"What kind of kingdom does your father run? It looks like you have many other races," Rock commented.

"The primary race which rules our kingdom were once a bird like race, if you look at my arm, you can still see some feathers," Lilandra replied as she showed her arm. The feathers were small, but still noticeable.

"However my sister still has wings on her back, and she can actually fly because of how well they've grown," she added.

"Where is she?" Rock asked.

"She is in the main colony ship. Our numbers are so vast we travel the stars, but most of us still stay at our home planet," Lilandra replied.

"Wow. Sounds like the galaxy sure is huge," Rock commented.

"It is virtually infinite in size. There are sure to be planets we still don't know about," Lilandra agreed. Rock then thought of something.

"Do you guys have a relic or anything?" he asked.

"Relic? Ah yes we have one. The M'kraan crystal," Lilandra replied.

"What an interesting name," Rock commented.

"The M'kraan crystal is a very sacred relic. It holds great power. It would be very disastrous if used the wrong way(2)," Lilandra replied.

A few more years passed by peacefully, but a danger began to threaten that peace. A group of space pirates that were known as the Invaders we closing in. Their leader, Zoda, stood where he could see the planet along with his second in command, Ridley. Zoda was dressed in brown armor and wore a long cape, and a helmet that had horns on it and spiked shoulder pads. For some reason, you couldn't see his face, only his pure white eyes. Ridley was a dragon like creature, with a long tail with a sharp point at the end. Though his limbs looked thin, he was stronger than he looked. He was a purple bluish color. Zoda chuckled as they slowly made their way to the planet.

"Soon, the universe shall fear us, starting with this planet," Zoda laughed.

"The troops are ready and waiting, master," Ridley said as his tail swished.

"Once we clear the atmosphere, we shall strike," Zoda ordered. The people were going about their business as usual, not even aware of the danger that was coming for them. After a few minutes a high pitch whine was able to be heard. It kept on getting louder and louder. Someone looked up and saw some kind of object heading towards them.

"Incoming!" the person managed to yell out and everyone scattered. The object hit the ground in the center of town and exploded, and toppled some of the buildings. Soon the ground forces landed. Some looked like guys in full suits of futuristic armor, while some had human shaped body, but the arms past the elbows looked like giant pincers. The ones in armor had laser rifles, while the ones with the pincers had laser guns imbedded at the base of the pincer. Destruction was able to be seen everywhere, and Ridley was soon perched on top of one of the buildings.

"Don't kill all the men, take some of the strong ones for labor!" he ordered. Rock, along with a few of the guards of the castle, managed to put up a decent fight. After a few minutes Demona ran up to them.

"Rock, we have to get out of here, they just took your father!" she exclaimed. Rock did hear what Ridley yelled before, so he knew why they took him. But something else became more of a concern as one part of the castle was breached.

"Take everyone to the escape ships; I'll go get the king!" Rock yelled as he ran into the castle. In the throne room the king was about to escape, but a pillar of fire formed in front of him as the sound of laughter echoed in the room. After a few seconds the outline of Zoda could be seen in the flames.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the noble king," he said.

"Have we met before?" the king asked.

"No. but I must say you did well in making a peaceful kingdom. Made much easier to concur," Zoda laughed as the flames died down and there he was in full glory. The king became angered by his remark and threw a punch at him, but Zoda grabbed his hand and tossed him into a wall. After the king stood back up he saw that an ax had fallen off the wall next to him. Quickly picking it up he ran towards Zoda and leaped towards him, but when he was about to swing at him, Zoda held out his hand and shot energy at him and knocked him out of the air. Zoda picked up the ax as he walked towards him.

"You shall be the first to die at my hands, I shall savor this," he said when he stopped at the king. Soon Rock reached the room only to be greeted by the sound of flesh and bone being slashed and a loud scream. Rock's eyes soon fell upon Zoda, who was standing over the king's body. A pool of blood had soon surrounded the king's body, and the ax which killed him still stuck out of his chest. Zoda soon saw Rock standing there with horrified eyes.

"You made my victory even sweeter. To just arrive only to find your king dead and knowing if you had arrived a minute or so sooner he might have been saved. You helped make this victory turn into a masterpiece," Zoda laughed manically. Rock was enraged and ran towards him and swung hard at him but he vanished.

"I shall let you live. To be able to make one suffer doesn't come often," Zoda's voice echoed.

"Why are you doing this?" Rock demanded.

"Every living thing that has a soul has desire. And my desire is to rule every square inch of the universe!" Zoda replied. "This planet was my first stepping stone, I shall need others, and to make myself more feared, I shall kill every last living creature on the next planet!" he added. Rock made his way to the escape ships and they escaped the planet. Rock sat in one spot alone, and looked deeply troubled. His mother then went over to him.

"I couldn't save him; I was to late when I got there. But I know his killer, and if we don't get to the Argonians home world, he will kill all of them too!" Rock exclaimed.

"Take it easy, we'll make it there, please calm down!" Demona said. Rock was about to protest, but she then quickly embraced him.

"There is something you have to know, it is something that I thought about time and time again on whether you would ever face war. This will help you keep you sanity as I know war can drive one off the deep end, save what you can, I know you want to but you can't save everyone," she said softly. It took a few days to arrive at the Argonian home world but it was soon in sight.

"I'll take the mini ship and warn them, you keep on going," Rock said. After a few minutes he was about to enter the ship but then there was a beeping noise that made him stop.

"I'm picking up a huge fleet of ships, they're coming!" one person called. Rock had to hurry. After a few minutes in the garden, where Mica was spending time at, she soon heard the sound of a ship. Rock's ship soon skidded to a halt in the garden and startled her.

"Rock what are you doing here?" she asked.

"No time for small talk, where is Hirocon?" Rock exclaimed. Mica realized by the sound of his voice and the way he was acting something bad had happened at his home, and apparently this same thing was going to happen at her home. They quickly made their way to the throne room where her father was and Rock filled them in. Hirocon then gave the order to evacuate but the invaders already arrived and were far more brutal than before.

"What are we going to do, father?" Mica asked.

"We have to find your brothers and sisters and get them to the escape pod!" Hirocon replied. They were about to leave the room, but one of the armored invaders entered the room and shot at them. Rock managed to tackle him and take him out and took his gun, which made it easier to take them on as they made their escape. They managed to get all the siblings to the room with the escaped pod, which just looked like a round sphere with three small cubed shaped indentations. Rock couldn't believe the amount of kids this guy had. But the biggest question on his mind was how they were all going to get inside.

"How are you all going to get in there?" he asked. Hirocon then went over to a pedestal and pulled out three cubes.

"I'll seal them inside these cubes and send the pod away," Hirocon replied.

"But what about you?" Rock asked.

"There is no time for that!" Hirocon replied. He held out the cubes and they began to spin around and around, first slowly, and it began to build up speed to the point where it looked like they were just flashing. After a few seconds a bright light filled the room and Mica, along with her brothers and sisters, vanished. Hirocon then quickly placed the cubes into the indentations. After a few more seconds the pod sailed right out of the room and into space.

"We don't have much time, you must escape and return to you colony, I'll be alright, so long as this pendent isn't destroyed before I'm done," Hirocon said as he held the pendent around his neck. Rock hurried to his ship, but not before Hirocon gave him a data disk with coordinates to a kingdom he visited that was far enough away from the danger, he had to take the long way which was safer as the gun he had was running low. What Hirocon was doing was he was he poured his essence into the pendent and broke it up into shards and scattered them across time. He managed to finish before Zoda found him and massacred him. Rock didn't want to because he knew he couldn't win, but he came across Zoda and Ridley as he made his way to his ship.

"Well, if it isn't the boy from before, where are the children?" Zoda asked.

"They are gone," Rock replied.

"I can see it in his eyes, he is telling the truth, and I can tell it would be a waste to try and torture him as he doesn't know where they went," Ridley said. Rock then quickly used up the ammo in his gun full force on Zoda. Ridley was about to strike back but Zoda stopped him.

"Let him go, I left a mark on him, let him leave a mark on me," Zoda said with pride. Rock made it to his ship and soon rejoined his colony. Ridley couldn't help but ponder why Zoda let Rock live.

"Why did you let that human live?" he asked.

"He feels…special for some reason," Zoda replied. "But enough about that, Ridley, I'm leaving you in charge while I go after those kids. I'll take the armored battalion with me," he added.

"To show that when you want everyone dead, you mean everyone," Ridley commented. So Zoda followed the reading of the escape pod from his ship. Zoda at one point found the escape pod in an old ruin and also found a scientist who happened to be there. Zoda gave him the old "You give me what I want, I'll let you live" routine and was true to his word. Shortly after he took the cubes into his ship, a high school student named Mike Jones traveled far and wide searching for the scientist who was actually his uncle. Upon hearing what his uncle told him, he went straight into Zoda's ship and got two of the cubes before having a showdown with him. Mike managed to get the last cube and escaped the ship before it exploded. Mike and his uncle placed the cubes together and returned Mica and her siblings to normal. A couple years later Mike wound up traveling through time and gathered the shards of the pendent while dealing with minions of Zoda. Zoda actually figured he might get killed so he made three clones of himself, each ending with a letter, Zoda X, Y, and Z. Mike took on each one and managed to collect all the shards and restored Hirocon to life. Upon hearing this, Ridley took full charge of the invaders and dubbed them the "Space Pirates" it might not have been a very original name, but they struck fear in the hearts of many.

It might not have been a big threat, but it was something that was going to be a bit bothersome to the pirates, the workers were planning to make an escape, and Mark was going to lead the escape. They talked it over for awhile off duty, and they were soon ready to make their move, one worker collapsed and one of the guards went over to see what was wrong, but when he got close he got jumped bad and so did the one that was going to try and help him. They managed to take their weapons and were fully ready to make an escape. They ran through the halls and avoided the shots while shooting back at them. Ridley got word and headed for the action. They made their way to the ships, and Mark held them off while they made it aboard. Mark sadly was taxed the most and was ready to expire, but he managed to make sure they made it out ok. Ridley was a bit mad and was going to punish him, but saw he was as good as dead already.

"You sure led one heck of a revolt," he commented.

"I…didn't expect to be complimented by you," Mark said.

"You're the father of that one kid that my former leader was so fond of, aren't you?" Ridley asked.

"So…you've met Rock?" Mark asked.

"Yeah, he let loose a few shots on my boss the last time they met, but he let him go. He said he was special for some reason," Ridley replied.

"One of these days… he will make you all pay…I understand his fate now… I couldn't see it before…he is…a chi…estiny…." Mark didn't get to finish the last few words properly, and it sure left Ridley perplexed.

"Chi, estiny? What the heck?" Ridley asked out loud. He soon figured there are some letters missing out of the words, but he didn't have time to figure that out now, now he had to figure out what the next target should be. The years rolled by, and Rock's colony had felt easy and at peace again, they had found refuge at the kingdom that was on the data disk the Hirocon gave Rock. The kingdom was called the Moon Kingdom. "Note, yes the Moon Kingdom from Sailor Moon, no not the tv show one, the Manga one. Which was a bit more serious and violent," Life for them here was about as simple as the life on their former planet, so it was easy for them to adapt to. Demona felt at ease now as to how Rock was affected mentally about what happened before, but he went back to normal a few months after they arrived. Rock got well acquainted with princess here, her name was Serenity. He wound up having to be her guard after the first year. Demona walked down the halls and found Jack leaning against one of the pillars looking rather glum.

"What is the matter?" she asked. Jack just mumbled something.

"Are you awake?" she then asked. Jack then wound up shaking his head vigorously, he blinked a few times. He apparently was deep in thought before.

"Sorry, I'm just wondering on how father is doing," Jack replied. His reply made her heart sink a bit.

"How is your sister taking it?" she then asked.

"Well, she's doing alright, but I can tell when her thoughts are about him, I can even tell when Rock is thinking about it," Jack replied. Mentioning Rock reminded Demona she wanted to see how he was doing, so she quickly said goodbye and hurried down the hall again. After a few feet she came across one of the royal cats. This one was female and named Luna. Her fur was black and she had a crescent moon on her forehead.

"Oh, hi Luna," Demona said.

"What are you in a hurry for?" Luna asked. Demona then felt silly, she wasn't in that big of a rush, but because she was reminded of something she forgot to do, she felt she had to make up for lost time.

"I was on my way to see my son, but forgot along the way, so when I remembered I kind of rushed a bit, sorry if I startled you," Demona replied.

"I wasn't that startled, I have sensitive ears so I heard someone running up the hall a long ways off," Luna said. Demona felt about as weird as Rock talking to cats, but as long as they were friendly, it wasn't that bad. But Demona set off again down the hall. This time with no interruptions, she made it to where Rock was. He was in just a plain room with a few pieces of furniture; right now he was slumped on a sofa and looked rather tired.

"Is the work taxing?" she asked.

"Not really. Right now I'm just tired for some reason," Rock replied. Demona then walked over to him. After getting a better look at his face, he looked rather bummed out about something.

"What's on your mind?" Demona asked.

"My father I guess, but there is nothing you can do about the past. What's done is done," Rock replied.

"At least you know how to deal with the after affects of war and not let it affect you," Demona commented.

"We managed to get away from one of the waves of war. I just wonder how long we can keep that up before we get swept up in a big one," Rock said.

"War can really jazz up a person. Just depends on how bad the wave is I guess. Time is like a river, always on the go, and is different for each person. We are like rocks or a pebble on a beach, the flow isn't that bad for most, but some just can't handle it for some reason and get washed away. When waves of war come, some still stay, or are swept up to a different spot or are gone for good," he added. Demona was speechless for a few moments.

"I never realized of how much of an understanding you had of the world," Demona said, surprised.

"I understand things better than most people think," Rock added.

"When the teacher said you were a good student, I didn't realize just how well, I feel kind of bad," Demona said.

"You needn't feel that way; you helped me become what I am today," Rock commented. Demona then wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you Rock, I don't know what I would do if I lost you, and I feel afraid about it," Demona said.

"Afraid? Afraid of what exactly?" Rock asked.

"I can't put it in words exactly, but I have a bad feeling, like a premonition," Demona replied as she let him go.

"A feeling of things to come one might say," Rock commented.

"Something along those lines," Demona agreed. Rock didn't tell anyone about it, but he lately has been having some rather odd dreams, they don't make sense. Of course most dreams don't make sense, but these took the cake as far as he was concerned. Some things he could sort of explain, but some things made no sense no matter how he looked at it. They managed to talk about some rather nice stuff like how things were going with the princess and the others. Even after they were done talking and left on a rather happy note, a bit of fear still resided in Demona's heart. Rock dismissed the thoughts about his dreams and went on with his work. The princess was polite and kind hearted, which made it easy for him to be around her. Her eyes were green and her hair was blonde and rather long. Rock had a hard time referring to her as Serenity as her mother had the same name, so he just called her the princess when mentioning her to someone else, which no one minded. Rock did have a little trouble in talking to them both in the same room, so he called the princess highness, and the queen majesty. In terms of face and appearance she took after her mother, the only difference was hair, eye color, and height at the time. The time of peace just kept on rolling by. Once in awhile, the prince of earth named Endymion would visit the princess. On one night, Rock stood at a railing which overlooked a pond. He looked at himself and wondered just what he was doing, where his future would lead him. While staring at it, the water rippled and his reflection changed. It still had his face, but he was wearing blue armor. He wore a helmet which covered all his hair. Most of the helmet was a dark blue, but four parts were a light blue. A small square at the center of his forehead, above that was a vertical rectangle the same width as the square. At the sides where the ears would be were small circles with red in the center. His hands were covered with huge glove like gauntlets the same color as his helmet. Around the waist was a dark blue belt, and on the legs were huge dark blue boots. He peered over the railing and the reflection didn't even move, just stayed still.

"Is that really me?" he asked. The face in the reflection proved that very well, but how was this possible he wondered. All of sudden a voice spoke.

"What are you looking at?" the voice asked. It was Serenity.

"Do you see that reflection?" Rock asked. Serenity looked over.

"What reflection?" she asked. Rock looked back; the reflection of him in armor was gone.

"I must have been seeing things," Rock replied as he rubbed his head.

"You must be tired, you should go to bed," Serenity commented. That was just the thing, Rock didn't feel tired, yet he saw something that couldn't be explained. Sadly he was at a loss of words. He couldn't say he needed some fresh air as he was already out.

"Why don't you tell me what you saw?" she then asked. Rock then told her exactly what he saw, detail for detail.

"So what do you think? Am I going nuts?" Rock asked.

"Maybe you saw what could be the future. Some people can see what is in store for them when they reach a certain age," Serenity replied.

"Who told you that?" Rock asked.

"My mother."

"Ah."

"So what will you do now?"

"I have no idea. I think I will rest," Rock replied before he wandered off. Rock felt lost, now he was seeing things that could mean what his life will be. But he felt determined to find answers to his questions. While on his way to his room, he heard an unfamiliar voice. It was female.

"Do you think you can change your destiny?" Rock had no idea what the person was talking about, but it continued. And a female figure with long hair and ears that stuck straight up was forming in the shadows.

"You have fought for so long, join with me, and you shall suffer no more,"

"Fought for a long time? Suffer? Join?" Rock asked in his head.

"You're mine, and mine alone!" the voice yelled as the figure came into full view. It was a woman with light blue skin, dark blue hair and clothing and gold protection here and there. Her hair was long, and her eyes were red. She was wearing a leotard-like outfit with knee high boots. She began to laugh as she reached for Rock. He stumbled back a few steps and the woman stopped. She began to speak but a different voice came out.

"Rock? What's wrong?" It was his mother's voice. He shook his head vigorously and after he was done there was his mother, standing in a similar position to the other woman.

"Are you ok?" she then asked.

"I must either be tired or I'm going insane, you looked like someone else for a moment," Rock replied.

"Someone else?" she asked. Rock looked deeply troubled.

"Did you fear this person? You looked terrified when I reached for you," she added.

"I never saw that person before in my life. But yet I saw her. She said something about me fighting and suffering for a long time, and if I joined her it would end, and she said I belonged to her and her alone," Rock replied.

"What is happening to you?" Demona asked.

"I have absolutely no idea, I think I'm going to have to leave here and find some answers," Rock replied. The idea of Rock leaving suddenly didn't appeal to Demona much, but if he had to in order to find the answers he needed, she would have to abide by it. After all, if these cases where he kept on seeing things persisted, he might go insane. The preparations for his departure took a few days, but they were ready none the less. The princess had been going to visit Prince Endymion the past few days. Rock didn't think too much of it, he figured he should just let things be between them, why should he interfere? If he did, something stupid would come of it. His letting her go when she requested didn't exactly put him in good graces with another one of her guardians, the one named Venus. He got a good chuckle the last time as Venus found her trying to leave. Before Rock came along the Princess had four guardians, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Rock got an earful each time Venus got wind of what the princess was doing. The princess asked him again if she could go, this time Rock told her he would escort her there, he figured it would take longer for Venus to find out and yell at him. Rock then got the idea to bring his brother along.

"I'll go get my brother, I'll be right back," Rock called as he ran off. Another reason for his wanting to tag along this time was so he could see what the earth was like. He found Jack whistling a tune. Rock then took them to earth in his ship, the one he was going to use to try and find the answers he sought. Things were quiet on earth, even in the castle where Endymion lived. Rock wandered around for awhile, until he found the royal maid peeking around a doorway, which led to the garden. She was beautiful with long dark-red hair, she seemed depressed about something. Rock took a quick look around the doorway and saw Endymion with the Princess.

"You like Endymon, don't you Beryl?" Rock asked. Beryl took a glance at him, before turning around in disgust.

"Wait a minute!" Rock called as he dashed in front of her.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," he said.

"Why should you care? You're from her Kingdom!" Beryl snapped.

"Hey, I may be one of her guards, but I'm as much human as you are!" Rock replied.

"But I thought…"

"I from a different colony, we just needed a place to stay. It's also been a learning experience while living with them, and how similar they live like us."

"There may be similarities, but they're so different on a few large points!"

"I understand that, like their long life spans, which makes ours seem so short compared to theirs."

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"Not at all, when my time comes my time comes, and there is nothing I can do about it. Though I am kind of picky about how I die."

"Either way, it doesn't change the fact on how upset it makes me to see them together; he hasn't noticed me at all since she showed up!"

"Have you made your feelings known?"

"A few times, but…"

"No buts, his heart is with the Princess, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

"Don't you know what's like to be ignored?"

"No. But I know what it is like to lose someone's heart to someone else, but so long as she is happy, I'm happy." Beryl starred at him after that last statement. There was a silence between them, but Rock soon turned around.

"If I had come here sooner, I might have been able to help."

"Maybe you can help, when can we meet again?"

"Maybe awhile, but I'll try and visit as often as I can. But there is something important I have to attend to, but I'll try and see you before I leave this area."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know, but I have questions that need answers." And with that he left.

Rock couldn't put his finger on it, but he could feel that something wasn't right the past few days back on the moon. He thought he saw something come from the sun one day during a meteor shower. And one day later, some sort of darkness began to creep over the sky, and Rock didn't like it. It wasn't storm clouds, it was something else. Jack didn't like it either, they went outside to try and figure out what was happening. They had their weapons drawn in case something happened.

"You wait here, I'll scout ahead, call mother and tell her to prepare for a quick escape," Rock said.

"You think another all out slaughter is coming?" Jack asked.

"I don't just think, I can feel it," Rock replied as he walked away. And he was right, an ugly fate was coming, and he was as ready as he can be at the moment. Rock could feel his heart thumping as he marched where he figured that battle would ensue. Soon that was all he could hear, he couldn't hear the sound of his footsteps anymore, just the thumping of his heart. He stopped when he saw movement off in the distance. Whoever or whatever it was, it was coming for this place. The sound of his heart was sort of discouraging, but all went silent for a few moments as the forces came closer and closer, but then a gentle female voice spoke in his head.

"Don't worry; your time has not come yet," the voice said. A bit comforted, Rock held up his sword where it would shine, and the enemy could see it, and it acted as a signal for those in the castle. Rock got caught in the battle before his brother and the troops did. A lot of stuff got trashed, but Rock kept on going strong, swinging his sword with great speed and agility. Rock knew he had to fight with all his might as he was being forced back bit by bit, he would see the dead bodies of the soldiers. After a few moments Rock reached a lull in the forces and could catch his breath. He then noticed the bodies of citizens scattered all over the place. This was a bit discouraging, but the sound of his brother's voice reached his ears.

"Hey bro, get a move on, we have to protect the princess!" he called. Rock quickly took off after him and they both skidded to a halt when they saw the amount of enemy troops blocking their way.

"How are we going to get through that?" Rock asked. Jack looked carefully and saw a thin spot.

"I'll go first, you follow," Jack replied. Jack took off with great speed. One enemy saw him coming and was ready to take him out when he got in range, or so he thought until Jack did a dive roll and thrust his sword into his chest. Those that were close by tried to swarm him but got a nasty surprise as to how well he moved and swung his sword. Rock had a little resistance, but he made it through. The few enemies he fought did make him lose track of his brother, but he made his way to the castle while killing those that got in his way. He soon entered the first doorway, and got a nasty sight, his brother was lying on the floor and standing over him was a rather girly-looking man. It was Zoitsite, one of Endymion's royal guards, his face and hair made him look less manly, and his hair was long and tied in a ponytail.

"What have you done to my brother, Zoisite? We're on your side!" Rock yelled. Zoisite just laughed like mad. Rock's fist began to shake in anger.

"You lousy scum, I'll get you for this!" Rock yelled as he held up his hand with the sword. Zoistite then got bashed in the face by a shield. Jack had removed it and tossed it right into his face.

"Come on, this way!" he called as he got up and ran, Rock followed and they stopped in an empty hall.

"I thought I had lost you," Rock said.

"Not yet, but I'm not going to last much longer, not with this," Jack said as he pointed to the wound in his chest, it was really bad, the blood kept on coming out.

"No! I can't lose you too!" Rock yelled.

"You have a duty to perform, let me do mine," Jack requested. Rock wasn't in position to argue, Rock ran off while Jack held off the forces that tried to follow. Jack killed every single one of them, before he fell to his knees.

"Looks like this is it for me, take care little bro," he said before that last bit of life left his body, he then fell on his face. Rock took out every single one of the enemies that came his way he wasn't going to let anything stop him from getting to the princess. While on his way he heard someone talking out loud.

"KILL! KILL! KILLEVERYONE!" the voice said.

'These guys have gone completely nuts!' Rock thought. Rock was pleased that he found the princess alive, but was horrified when he arrived just in time to see Endymion get stabbed in the back.

"NO! Endymion!" Serenity yelled. She then held his body tight. Standing close to them with crazed eyes was Beryl, one of the prince's servants. Rock ran as fast as he could, but didn't make it there in time, he couldn't hear what the princess was saying, but she then stabbed herself with Endymion's sword. Rock couldn't contain it, his body was trembling so much with anger he had to yell out loud.

"NOOOOO!" his voice echoed loudly, and got almost everyone's attention. Rock's eyes met Beryl's crazed gaze, she didn't look human anymore.

"I don't know what happened to you, but scum like you took my father, killed our king, almost obliterated an entire race, and now you wiped out almost every person on this planet, along with my brother, and now the person Princess Serenity was in love with whom you had affections for, making the princess kill herself? I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Rock yelled with all his might. A lot of the forces tried to kill him, but he became so strong because he was so angry, and what's more he wasn't blinded by it, he knew how to focus it and use it. Beryl swung at him, but Rock just jumped back, before he could do anything, Venus came by with a huge sword and killed Beryl.

"I knew a lot of these people, why are they doing this?" Rock asked.

"I have no idea," Venus replied. Rock took a closer look at those who were still alive, they looked insane, possessed.

'They are either under some kind of mind control, or something drove them to madness,' Rock thought. These people were once just ordinary people, but now look at them, driven by madness, only a lust for blood, they have gone savage. Rock got to an open spot to catch his breath, and saw a face in the darkness in the sky. There was no doubt in his mind, this was the cause for all this bloodshed, and it relished in it.

"You heartless beast, you're the one who is the cause of all this insanity!" Rock yelled. He soon felt some sort of pain in his head, and it grew and grew, and he could hear a voice, but he didn't want to listen.

"Stay out of my head you freak!" Rock yelled as he held back his sword ready to toss it. The gentle voice then spoke in his head again.

"Your end is not here, you life doesn't end like this, not yet," the voice said. His sword began to emit some kind of light before he tossed it, and it flew far, and struck the entity, but it didn't kill it, but it was enough to get it out of his head. One enemy was so strong he knocked Rock back a few feet back into the castle and knocked him out. But he was quickly awakened by Mercury.

"What happened?" Rock asked, but he got his answer from the battle that was still happening.

"You mother and the colony got away safely, but you have to escape too, leave this battle to us," Mercury replied. Rock didn't want to, but an order was an order, and he abided by it His ship wasn't that far, and when he reached it, he looked back at her.

"When I've finished what I'm setting out to do, I'll come back and do what I can to repair the damage, I promise" he called.

"Just go!" Mercury insisted. Rock then took off in his ship. His as well as the others' fate was tied to this planet; it is where Rock will fight a battle between two sisters, who have yet to be born.

End Chapter 5

_(1)Such an artifact did exist; it was called the Scepter of Domination. The warrior, who is to become the eternal guardian, fought along side those who fought against dark ones who sought its power. One of the warrior's comrades destroyed the scepter, before its power could be unleashed._

_(2)Much, much later, when D'ken gains the throne, he tries to use the M'kraan crystal to become very powerful, if it wasn't for a group called the X-Men, the world might have ended then._


	6. An Ugly Fate Awaits and the Calling

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 6

An Ugly Fate Awaits and the Calling

It has been four months, four months since the fall of the Earth kingdom and the Moon kingdom. And Rock blamed himself for almost the whole thing, if he hadn't brought his brother along, he would still be alive, if he had said no to the princess just this once she would still be alive. But after thinking things over, even if he had said no, she would have killed herself once she heard of Endymion's death. But then one life would have been spared, but then again, he might have died trying to protect the queen. Rock blamed himself for weeks, but he soon learned to leave the past behind him as best he can. But he does know he can't run from it, but if it comes to face him, he will face it head on when the time comes. He wandered alone for the longest time. The images that only he could see persisted. After two months they paused. And the third month they seem to have stopped. But the memories of them remained, and he knew it was only a matter of time before they started up again. The image of the blue-skinned woman with long ears and red eyes would not leave his head; he had to know who she was, for his fate was indeed tied to hers. She is a person that was born alone, unloved… and suffered alone. Rock searched for the longest time alone with no one to talk to, just a long lonely path. Through forests, through mountain ranges, through abandoned ruins, he traveled for many days. He would remember the gentle voice that spoke in his head.

"Don't worry, your time has not yet come. Your end is not here, it doesn't end like this, not yet," the voice echoed in his head.

"Just what did she mean, 'my end'?" he asked. But no one could answer that question, not yet anyway. Eventually, he came across one ruin that was still mostly intact. He searched inside to try and find someone or something that could tell him what he sought. After a few minutes he saw something, a blue hedgehog that was humanoid-looking, he wore red shoes, white gloves, and his eyes were green. He was about as tall as Rock's waist, maybe a little taller.

"Come on, this way," he called while giving the gesture to follow. The way he sounded and acted, it looked like he was in a battle and was leading someone to escape, but in this case, he might be leading him to what he was after. He followed him down the halls and through various rooms. They soon entered a room, it looked like some kind of spell room. It had shelves with books, potions, whatever was necessary. The hedgehog skidded to a halt in front of a table and faded away. Rock had already figured he was an illusion, but he led him this far, maybe there was something here that could help him. Rock went to look at the table and found a huge book left wide open. He was about to turn it around so he could look at it, but then a girl screamed. Looking up he saw a girl dressed in robes. The robes were a dark purple, and had gold trim here and there, here hair was blond and here eyes were blue. She was carrying some sort of container that Rock figured she got from the back as that was where she came from.

"Where did you come from?" she asked shocked.

"From another planet," Rock replied. The girl at first took it as a joke, but after looking at him more carefully, she never saw his kind of clothes before, she didn't even know what they were made out of.

"What are you doing here? I'm just a sorceress," she then asked. Rock figured someone like her could help him out.

"I think you can help me, I've been seeing things," Rock replied.

"Seeing things? What kind of things?" she asked.

"Well, how I found you so fast in this place, as I've only been here about a minute, I followed a blue hedgehog," Rock replied.

"A blue hedgehog?" the girl asked, most interested.

"He was about half as tall as me," Rock replied.

"I haven't seen a blue hedgehog, but I have seen normal-colored hedgehogs about that height," the girl said. She paused a few moments before smacking herself in the face.

"How rude of me, I'm Malinya," Malinya said.

"I'm Rock," Rock added.

"Now what else have you seen?" Malinya asked. Rock told her everything he saw up to that point.

"Sounds like you're seeing the future," Malinya replied with a lot of confidence.

"How can you be so certain?" Rock asked.

"Well, seeing as to how nothing seems to trigger in your brain whenever something like this happens, it must be the future you're seeing, otherwise something would trigger in your head and cause memories to come back. Trust me, I've seen that happen a few times, so I know what I'm talking about," Malinya replied. Rock almost forgot to mention something.

"I also heard a voice in my head, twice, she said something about my end," Rock added.

"Tell what she said," Maliniya requested. Rock told word for word what he heard.

"It must be someone who you're very close to in the future, possibly your spouse," Malinya replied.

"My what!?" Rock asked.

"You heard me. It may even be your daughter," Malinya said with even giving a second thought. Rock fell on his back in absolute shock. She then thought for a moment.

"Maybe I should have worded that better and brought it up slowly," she thought out loud. But Rock got back up, and was able to ask another question.

"How are you so certain in what you just told me?" he asked.

"Well, think of it this way, if you were a girl, you might have heard a young man's voice, or possibly a girl's voice. Either way I know they are the voices of those yet to come, I've been doing this a long time," Malinya replied.

"How long?" Rock asked. Malinya then leaned across the table.

"For a lot longer then you think, I've been around for a long, long time, I'm well over a hundred years old, so you know what that means," she replied.

"You're over a hundred years old?" Rock asked. She then smacked him upside the head with a wand.

"Yeah, so that means respect your elder's, buster," Malinya replied. Rock couldn't believe it; here he was conversing with a girl who is actually a woman who is possibly well old enough to be his great, great grandmother. It was a bit tough for him to continue as even though she was old, she looked and acted like a teenager.

"But about this 'end' part, that means you're going to die soon," she added as she pointed her wand it his face. Rock then lightly pointed it aside.

"Careful with that thing, I don't know what it is loaded with," he said. Malinya then looked at it with a funny look.

"Loaded? Don't worry, though this thing is loaded as you put it, it doesn't shoot out spells unless I do a chant, so don't worry about my waving it around, I've been doing it for years, and nothing ever happened, it also helps me think," she assured him.

"But if I die, but how do I meet my so-called spouse?" Rock asked.

"You shall be reborn,"

"Reborn?"

"You are a special person, I can feel it, there is a great power that resides in you, but you can not unleash it yet. You'll have to die first,"

"But how am I going to die?" Malinya thought for a moment.

"There is one spell that I can use," she replied. She then looked through some books and found the spell, quickly doing a chant a light sphere appeared in the middle of the room.

"Oh great spirit that knows all, how will this man die?" she asked.

"He shall meet his end at the hands of a dragon-like creature, which he is well acquainted with," a voice replied.

"Ridley," Rock said angrily. The light soon faded.

"So you already know your killer, you can either postpone your death to do other things, or face you destiny head-on. What you do is entirely up to you, but you must face him, otherwise the world will go into an imbalance," Malinya said. Rock then began to leave.

"It is better to face one's destiny, rather than avoid it," Rock said. Then the light appeared again.

"Though you will die, inflict as much damage on Ridley as much as you can, don't let up in your attacks, you must do this so the flow against good and evil will move properly," the voice said.

"So the flow against good and evil can move properly?" Rock repeated.

"Right now it is in an imbalance, I know it doesn't make much sense, but you must inflict as much as damage on him as you can," it replied. Rock wasn't sure why, but if it helped restore things to their proper state, he didn't care. But what bothered him on the way out was who the gentle voice that spoke to him before could be. Malinya went back to what she was doing, as it was most important. The light hovered over her shoulder.

"His children will come to this planet at some point," it said.

"They will?" she asked.

"It will be around the time when technology on this planet it almost at its peak. You will have to lend them your power when they come. Until, do what you can to prepare for the battle called The Destiny of Destruction."

"You mean that legendary event where almost all life ends? That Destiny of Destruction?"

"None other."

"Oh boy."

Elsewhere, on a planet where Rock's mother and sister were at, disaster had struck. Ridley had looked for them the whole time, and had every intention of wiping them out this time.

"Kill every last and single one of them this time! No one leaves here alive!" Ridley yelled.

"What is with these guys?" a soldier asked.

"I have no idea, they seem to want to wipe out those that might be a threat later," Demona replied.

"I hope they didn't kill Rock," Roll said.

"No, he is still alive, I can feel him," Demona commented. Hours rolled by, and the battle raged till the area was nothing but a burning field of fire. Demona searched franticly for her daughter as they got separated at one point, and she soon found her, dead with an odd-looking stab wound.

"No! Roll, answer me! Please!" Demona begged as she shook her daughter, but it was no use.

"First my husband, then my first son, now my daughter? Is Rock next to go?" she asked as she held her daughter tight. She looked up and thought she saw Rock walking by, a determined expression on his face, he was heading right to where Ridley was at.

"Rock, is that you?" she called. He stopped and looked at her.

"It is time to finish this," he said. He then started walking again; she then realized where he was headed.

"Rock, you can't face him, he'll kill you!" she yelled. Rock didn't even stop.

"I have no choice, I'm no longer going to run away, I must face him alone, what you do afterwards is up to you," he said softly.

"You can't! Please come back!" Demona called. But he kept on going.

"I'm not going to hide, it is better to face your destiny rather then to run from it, for it will find you either way," Rock replied. Demona eyes widened.

"Face your destiny?" Demona asked. A horrible thought came to mind, perhaps he found out the only way to end this between them and Ridley was to die at his hands. Rock stood at the edge of a huge circle of flames, and in the center was Ridley.

"So, you've finally showed you face. I was wondering if you died before I got a chance to kill you."

"So you weren't looking for me?"

"I do not seek out just one person, for what can just one person do alone against a whole army?"

"You would be surprised."

"Perhaps I might, but the whole reason I'm after this colony is that they might at one point be our end, I'm trying to insure our survival."

"So that is your true mission? To insure you survive?"

"Don't think I've forgotten what Zoda wanted, of course war is a survival of the strong over the weak."

"Only a coward hides behind pure strength alone!"

"You need strength to build an empire, boy! All you are is just some annoying little soldier who doesn't understand how things work in the real world."  
"I understand that freaks like you tend to hide behind a battalion of troops and only kill those that are weak."

"That was an insult boy, big mistake to compare us to those who have foolishly thought that was the best way to do things, I find winning a good fight proves of how well you can be a ruler."

"All you care about is power at any cost! Don't you even care about your troops?"

"My men are what make up this empire! If I lost them, I would have nothing to rule with. We will share the universe together, one galaxy at a time."

Rock then drew his sword and pointed at Ridley.

"I've heard enough of your insane babble."

"The problem with you is that you're one of those people reject progress."

"Those who reject progress?"

"In the universe, life is born, waves of war roll on, progress is made, and in every century someone like you comes along and tries to fight the flow, you don't want to lose anything, you fight change and progress."

"So you think war is the only way to advance, and the way of peace doesn't work?"

"There are those who would understand better than you. That I assure you."

Rock couldn't stand his words anymore, he charged rather unexpectedly, and got Ridley off-guard.

"I didn't expect you to move so quickly and swiftly. This shall be fun," Ridley smirked. Rock and Ridley went at it for the longest time as the flames around them grew more in the light of the flames around them. Rock's small size and agility made it hard for Ridley to hit him, but each wound that Ridley would inflict on him, would be really bad, but that didn't stop Rock from doing what he could to inflict what damage he could on Ridley. With the way things were going, they were about evenly matched and neither of them showed any signs of dying anytime soon. Demona watched helplessly as Rock continued the fight. Rock was after all against claws and a tail, but he showed no fear. None of the things in the past mattered to him now all that mattered to him was that Ridley would pay the price once he died. That battle lasted for hours, and they both looked fairly battered. Blood coming from their wounds, they paused a few minutes. They stared each other down, Rock knew he would die after this, but he didn't care, the lives of many others were at stake if he lived. They went for each other and Rock landed one last blow before Ridley impaled him with his tail. Ridley stood over his body, and saw Demona on her knees with tears welling up in her eyes. This made Ridley laugh manically as he turned around and walked away. He walked a few feet before he heard the sound of fast running, by the time he looked he got impaled in the back by Demona, who ran up and grabbed Rock's sword on her way over. The force she used to impale him knocked him onto his face and she rolled over him, when he propped himself up she slashed out his left eye, which resulted in him knocking her back. He stood up and growled at her, he then ran for her but she ducked and impaled him in the chest. He then grabbed her and tossed her with all his might and she bounced off the ground a few times. When she tried to getup, she got slashed by his tail multiple times before he impaled her. He then wrapped his tail around her and tossed her toward her son's body. He watched as she used what was left of her life to crawl over to her son and did one last embrace before she died. He then collapsed and his troops ran over and picked him up as high as they could, and let his legs drag.

"Stop the attack on these people, we've done enough to them," he said.

"Ok, but man did you put up a good fight, you lived through two tough battles, no one can beat you!" one of the pirates that was carrying him said. They all began to praise him by saying, "Lord Ridley! Lord Ridley! Lord Ridley!" Who knows how many times? Ridley felt like he accomplished something before the last bit of life in him faded. They all went into a panic when they saw he was dead.

"AH! Now what do we do now that he is dead?" one asked. One from the science division walked up.

"Preserve his remains, it will take some time, but we've been working on a project that will bring those who died back, down to the soul," he said. They placed his remains into stasis, and so they remained there for many years. A good number of years passed on the planet that Rock lost his brother on, and many heroes have been born there, and one person he was close to was reborn many years before he went there the first time. His daughter Sarah has already helped out Carrie in her quest to stop Dracula, now many planets away, Rock was reborn, but he doesn't remember all he has been through, but the memories are still in his head, they just need something to resurface them. The project for the one person he saw in an image was started, and he is very close to another one of them. He was reborn as a machine that looked human. The body was created by a scientist named Dr. Light. Fate was ready for him to rise and fight again, he soon became known as Mega Man when a partner of Dr. Light named Dr. Wily went down the path of evil, and used robots to try and concur the world. Mega Man defeated him nine times. The ninth time was with the help of Mega Man's replica, named Bass. Bass looked nothing like Mega Man as he was black and grey. His helmet had odd curved parts, a blue gem in the center, he had a breast plate, with another blue gem in the center. He also had gold color here and there. The only thing he had similar to Mega Man was his power. Right now we're at the tail-end of the ninth battle, they had just beat Wily and were about to go separate ways, but Bass had other ideas.

"Fight me Mega Man," he demanded.

"Are you crazy? We're both badly damaged from the last fight, if we fight now, we're sure to have problems," Mega Man replied.

"Only you, I'll be fine as I didn't take as much damage as you did," Bass said.

"You're insane! Just why do you want to fight me so bad, you know you won't win," Mega Man commented.

"I only lost to you in the past was because I fought you when you were in your prime, now the chance to beat you has finally come, and I'm not going to let it slip by!" Bass shouted. Mega Man quickly charged his buster and let out a shot and nailed Bass with it. Bass quickly tired to retaliate, but Mega Man was to fast for him, but the battle lasted longer then both of them thought, shots going left and right, explosions everywhere, the place was a mess already but now it was worse. Bass closed in for the blow that would make him the winner, but Mega Man held out his fist and it glowed in a strange light.

"What kind of power is that!?" Bass asked in anger, Mega Man then let his fist fly and nailed Bass in the chest with it and he flew back a good ways, with a big dent in his chest and sparks coming out of it, he was in no shape to continue. Mega Man teleported out of the battle and back to Dr. Light lab. The attack he used to finish the fight was a very special attack, known as the Dragon's fury. He wasn't able to harness all of its power, but if he did, he would have killed Bass. Before Rock was reborn as Mega Man, his brother and sister were reborn too, Jack was reborn as Proto Man, and his sister strangely enough kept her name. Proto Man was the only one who kept his memories, but he knew Mega Man would at one point. He almost did in the seventh battle between him and Wily. He remembered the event well. Mega Man had destroyed the battle robot that Wily was in, Wily was going to go quietly, but Mega Man then pointed his buster at him.

"I don't trust you Wily, I'm going to do what I should have done in the beginning!" Mega Man yelled. Wily then began to inch back.

"You forget, Mega Man, robots cannot hurt humans," Wily reminded him. Mega Man's expression changed, for a moment, everything was back in his head.

"I'm more then a robot, DIE WILY!" Mega Man yelled as he was about to shoot Wily, but then the place began to fall apart a little bit, and everything didn't have a chance to fully go back into place. Wily got stuck under some rubble, Mega Man slowly went over but then Treble, Bass's robot dog, showed and got Wily away. Bass then showed up to taunt him.

"Sorry Mega Man, but he who hesitates is lost," he said before he left. Mega Man was close to getting all of his memory back in one swoop. But it wasn't meant to be. Not yet anyway. Proto Man was dying due to an imperfection in his design, Dr. Light said he would repair it, but Proto Man didn't want it to be done. He watched as Mega Man sat around the house looking rather glum, Roll walked up to him.

"Why are you looking so glum? Is it the fact that Bass just doesn't get the fact that you can beat him no matter what?" she asked.

"No, I'm just wondering if I'm doing any good out there," Mega Man replied.

"What are you talking about? You stopped Wily from taking over the world so many times already!" Roll replied.

"Yeah, I won a few battles, put out a few fires, but the war just keeps going on and on," Mega Man added.

"Even though I'm not the one doing the fighting, I know it must be tiring to be doing that over and over again, but think of it this way, if it weren't for you, the world would have fallen apart years ago," Roll said. The way she made it sound, it was as if Mega Man was the only thing keeping the world from going to ruin. Later that night as Mega Man sat in his bedroom, Proto Man walked in.

"Things are kind of rough on you, but now that I think about it, things have been rough for all three of us," Proto Man said.

"The three of us?" Mega Man asked.

"I can't go into details, but you are more then you think you are."

"What the heck does that mean?"

"The three of us, don't have a cpu chip."

"We don't? But how do we…"  
"I know what the three of us are."

"Should we tell Roll?"

"She should be spared of this. I'm not going to be around much longer, but you still have a lot to do to stop the Destiny of Destruction."

"The Destiny of Destruction? How do I stop it?"

"You can't stop it directly, but you have to set in motion the things that can stop it."

"But how?"

"You are a person that can change fate itself, I know you are, why else would we still be alive?"

"I don't get that last statement."

"All three of us, died many years ago."

"What?"

"You and Roll both died on the same planet, I died on a different one, a different earth."  
"There is another earth?"

"I don't now where, but I know it's out there, you have to find it on your own."

"But how will I know it?"

"You will know it is the one when certain memories kick in. They've been haunting me lately."

"How bad are they?"

"Almost enough to drive me insane."

"Is that why you're so distant?"

"Kind of."

Proto Man then left. Mega Man was left alone, and a bit confused. It is true, the three of them do operate without cpu chips, their souls are what make the bodies move. Bass was the very first one to operate with a chip, and he had one heck of a rebelling will. Speaking of which, he went to one of Wily's hidden labs and found him working on another robot, this one wore red and white armor, in the center of the helmet was a blue gem, on the chest was two green gems, and on one of his shoulders, was a Z. He also had long blond hair.

"You're still working on this guy?" Bass asked.

"He shall be my masterpiece, I must make him flawless, the time put into him, will insure his victory against you two," Wily replied.

"You're going to send this girly-looking robot after me and Mega Man? HA! I don't think he can even beat Mega Man. Just how strong is he?" Bass asked.

"Look at the power chart," Wily replied. Bass looked at, and his jaw dropped.

"Holy cow! This guy's power is almost through the roof!" Bass exclaimed. Wily then laughed.

"I told you he would be more powerful than either of you!" Wily chuckled. Bass looked more closely at the charts

"GYAAA! Have you also looked at his mind level? He is nothing but a berserker! How in the world to you plan to control him?" Bass asked.

"I don't plan to, I'll just let him loose, and turn everything into rubble, and then I shall rebuild this world in my image!" Wily laughed.

"And just how do you plan to rebuild the world while he is still running around like a mad man? He'll just smash all the stuff you build too!" Bass protested.

"I've already thought of that, I'll detonate him, once he is done," Wily replied.

"You're one heck of a crazy man, Wily," Bass said. He then looked at the robot again; he still couldn't believe he would be able to beat him or Mega Man. He wound up jumping back a few feet when it looked up at him and laughed insanely, but it then stopped and went back to its slumber state.

"You see? That is the fear he will induce to those he is about to kill!" Wily commented. Bass had enough courage left to ask one more question.

"Did you think of this guy yourself? Or did you find something else to copy form?" Bass asked.

"Dr. Light is aware that three of his creations don't have a cpu chip like you do, so he is making a new robot, I am copying, but also improving on his design!" Wily said before laughing like a maniac. That was enough for Bass, as he tore out of there. He and Treble then went to the top of a tall building and sat there.

"Dandy, just dandy, not only am I being replaced, I'll be torn apart by a robot that should have high intelligence, which he probably did have, but the Doc must have done one heck of a job to make him insane to laugh like that," Bass said. He was deeply troubled, that the one person he lived to fight against was going to be torn apart by some homicidal robot, but fate had other plans; they both would be spared the fate that Wily thought awaited them. Back in the bedroom of Mega Man, who was asleep, a dream of forgotten memories began to take place. Faint images would appear, and voices could be heard.

"You helped make this victory turn into a masterpiece."

"You're mine, and mine alone!"

"I can't lose you too!"

"You have a duty to perform, allow me to do mine."

A blurry image of a red-haired woman could be seen, but he couldn't see her face, but the area looked like a battlefield.

"Rock, you can't face him, he'll kill you!" she called. The image began to fade away, but she continued.

"You can't! Please come back!"

"My men are what make up this empire! If I lost them, I would have nothing to rule with. We will share the universe together, one galaxy at a time."

Soon all was silent for awhile, but then a faint female voice could be heard, very faint, but growing louder.

"….elp…e….h…m…..el…me…help…me…help…me…please…help me...I…beg of you…help…me…please…please…hear me my…call…go…to the mountains…find the ring…help…the hedgehog…get the…emeralds…name is…Sonic….help…me….help me!" the voice yelled and woke Mega Man up gasping for air. He then went to the lab.

"What is it Mega Man?" Dr. Light asked.

"I think you better alter my buster, give it one charge level that will continue to grow," Mega Man requested. Dr. Light went to work on it and soon finished.

"There, now you can charge one level that will grow more and more powerful the longer you hold it, I don't know why I never thought of it before, but why did you suddenly decide to ask me to do that?" Dr. Light asked.

"Cause I think I'm going to need it," Mega Man replied. Mega Man then set out to one of the mountain areas, but then the voice spoke in his head again.

"I…will guide you to where you need to go," the voice said. Mega Man then thought of some words to ask.

"You don't seem to be stressing like before," he said.

"It was hard to talk to someone who is asleep, but possible."

"So I'm supposed to find this Sonic the Hedgehog, right?"

"That is his name, but first you must find the warp ring that is in the mountains to go to his world. It is similar to your world, after you find him; help him find the Chaos Emeralds. There are seven of them, once you find them all, find the Master Emerald and use them all to warp to my world."

"Warp to your world?"

"My world is going to be in danger very soon. The two of you can help me. Right now I'm in a state where I won't be able to defend myself, as the enemy will be hunting me, and I won't be able to do a thing about it, you must help me!"

"We'll get there as soon as we can!"

Mega Man followed her directions for a few hours through the mountains and soon found the warp ring. It wasn't that much to look at, but it was a huge golden ring that was floating and spinning, and in the center Mega Man could see another world.

"…I…I am getting tired, you will be…on your own for awhile…good luck, Mega Man," the voice said. Mega Man then quickly jumped through the ring and landed on top of a building. This world was a little bit different from his world as it was behind in terms of technology. He was in a city known as station square, as there were almost trains in abundance in this town, but otherwise it looked like any other big city. Mega Man jumped down and wandered the streets, until he found a hotel. He figured it would be the best stop to ask for Sonic. He went inside and went over to the clerk.

"Do you have a Sonic the hedgehog in?" he asked.

"He doesn't sleep here, but he went to the pool to the side about an hour ago," the man replied. At least things were going smoothly. He went out the door and saw the place wasn't that jumping today, just two young women in one-piece swimsuits, and a little girl in the pool. To his left was undoubtedly the person he wanted. But a slight memory kicked, he recalled to have seen him before. It was Sonic the Hedgehog alright; he was a blue humanoid-looking hedgehog, with white gloves and red shoes. Sonic was resting on a fold-up chair. Mega Man walked over to him.

"Sonic, I presume?" Mega Man asked. Sonic opened his eyes and blinked a few times.

"Huh? What's up, man?" Sonic asked as he shook his head, Mega Man figured he woke him up from a little sleep.

"I'm Mega Man, I was told to find you," Mega Man replied.

"Mega Man? That's sure an interesting name. So who sent you to find me?" Sonic asked.

"AH! He's going to crash!" one of the woman yelled. They both quickly looked around and saw a plane sputtering out of control; a humanoid fox was flying the plane.

"Tails!?" Sonic exclaimed. The plane soon went out of sight and crashed.

"Come on Mega Man, we got to save my pal!" Sonic said. They both ran past the women and onto the beach. They ran a few miles and got a rather odd welcome, some animal-shaped robots came out to greet them, with bombs.

"Oh great, old Egghead must be trying to take control of this beach," Sonic complained. A lot of people were on the run, more animal-like robots kept on coming. They were very weak as they only took one shot from Mega Man's buster and one hit from Sonic while he was curled up into a ball. Real animals would come out of the robots when destroyed.

"You're not a bad shot Mega, we might just get along well together," Sonic commented as they ran down the beach. Mega Man was comforted by the thought; being pals with those in the same fight does make things easier. One part of the beach went into a path the led across the water. Some springs were placed here and there and Sonic bounced off of them and it looked like he had been doing it for awhile with how well he soared through the air. They both bounced off of one spring which sent them to a small island that was close to the beach. They went wherever the path led, destroying any robot that got in the way. At one point they were out over the ocean on a dock made for tourists. What made this spot stick out to them was the fact that a mad whale came after them and they had to run for dear life from it as it smashed the dock. They managed to get away and ran through spots where the people would have fun at; it looked like all the people got away safely from the robots.

"Hey, I think I see smoke from the plane!" Mega Man said as he looked off in the distance.

"We're getting close, not much further now," Sonic agreed. They went further and came across a huge robot that towered over both of them.

"Talk about huge," Mega Man said.

"I've faced bigger," Sonic said as with confidence. The robot looked somewhat humanoid, a bit more advanced looking than the ones they've faced so for.

"But this is the first one I've seen that doesn't look as dumb as the doc himself," he added. It even looked more advanced then any of the robots that Mega Man had ever faced. It then held back its hand up high, before slamming it down onto the ground, but they both jumped out of harms way. The robot actually moved rather fast and it swung its fists around like mad.

"Man, one good hit from that and I think we'll be miles away," Mega Man said.

"It sure is a good thing no one else is around, I would hate to have someone get hit in the crossfire," Sonic added. It was hard for either of them to land some hits, but slowly but surly they were wearing him down. The robot would soon then shoot out rockets from its back and lasers from its eyes. Mega Man managed to shoot a descent charged shot at its head, and it activated some hidden thrusters and flew away, but they saw it was turning around.

"I think I know what it has in mind," Mega Man said.

"So do I, but I don't think I can hit it hard enough to finish it off," Sonic replied. Mega Man then got an idea.

"Quick, get in front of me and curl up!" Mega Man said. Sonic did just that.

"So what now?" he asked.

"When that sucker is close enough, I kick you right into its face," Mega Man replied.

"You sure you can do that?" Sonic asked.

"I've kicked soccer balls through walls," Mega Man replied.

"Ok, but don't kick so hard that I plow through him into the water, I can't swim," Sonic said. When the robot was in range, Mega Man kicked Sonic real hard and he sailed right smack into the face of the robot and smashed it, and everything on it seemed to have died instantly. Mega Man jumped onto to it before it plowed into the ground. Sonic popped out of the spot where the head was and didn't seem fazed at all.

"What a thrill that was! Let's do that again some time!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I think we'll get along just fine." And so a friendship was started. They quickly continued and found Tails out cold next to his plane, his fur was a bright golden brown color, and he had two tails, white gloves, and he had red shoes which were white at the toes. Mega Man picked him up, and was careful about his two tails. A few minutes went by as they went back to the hotel and Tails woke up before they reached the pool area, so they let him walk the rest of the way.

"Hey Tails, what happened anyway? You're too good of a pilot to just crash like that," Sonic said. Mega Man figured that Tails must have been one heck of a pilot, despite how young he was.

"Yeah, I was trying out a new prototype, but it still has a few bugs to work out," Tails replied.

'A _few_ bugs?' Mega Man thought sarcastically.

"Why don't you just use my plane, the Tornado?" Sonic asked.

"Thanks, but you got to see my latest power supply," Tails replied before he pulled out an emerald.

"WHOA! A Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed.

"One of the seven Emeralds?" Mega Man asked. Tails eyes widened.

"You know of the Emeralds?" he asked.

"Yeah that's why I'm here, how did you find it?" Mega Man asked.

"I found it during one of my test flights, so I figured why not use it to power my plane? Super charged!" Tails replied.

"So you're here for the emeralds?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, a woman told me to find you, and we needed to search for the emeralds together," Mega Man replied.

"A woman told you that?" Sonic asked.

"Where is she?" Tails asked.

"I don't know where exactly, but she seems to be beyond this world, she spoke to me telepathically," Mega Man replied.

"Telepathically? Can you contact her?" Sonic asked.

"I can't contact her whenever I wish, if she wants to talk to us, she'll do it when the time is right. After all, she called me long distance," Mega Man replied.

"Well, I think I have something that can help us continue our search for the Emeralds. It's at my workshop in the Mystic ruins, the fastest way is by train, come on guys!" Tails called as he ran off. They followed him to the nearest train station and come aboard before the train took off. Mega Man's quest has only begun, the closet he was to the Eternal Guardian, was when he was with the Moon Princess on that one earth, many years ago. The armored figure, that followed Sarah and Carrie, watched him a few times in his past life, now the person is most satisfied.

"He is the one, I know that now, the one who is the key in my returning to this world. The proper time I'm from, it will only be a matter of time, till we meet, face to face, our fate is sealed, and I shall fix this world, with your help, you shall be by my side, my dear warrior," the figure said before laughing while fading away.

End Chapter 6


	7. The hunt for the Emeralds part 1

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 7

The Hunt for the Emeralds

Part 1

The trip on the train was not too long and not too short, which was good because the trip was uneventful. The train stopped at a high wooden station where our three heroes disembarked. They walked down the wooden stairs and followed Tails to his workshop, which was right to the right of the station; they just had to walk up some stairs as the shop was on top of a tall hill. When they reached the top of the steps they were greeted by a voice Mega Man never heard before.

"Well, if it isn't Sonic!" the voice said. It sounded like he knew the hedgehog quiet well.

"Oh look, a giant talking egg!" Sonic said sarcastically as some kind of flying vehicle approached. Inside was a man who had a fat body but thin limbs and a bald head. The only hair he had was his big orange mustache. He wore a red jacket with various add-ons, along with black pants.

"Silence! I am Dr. Robotnick, the most brilliant scientific genius in the world!" Robotnick exclaimed.

"What ever you say, egg-head," Sonic replied.

"You're always up to no good, so what are you planning now?" Tails asked.

"This is my most brilliant plan yet, now hand over any Chaos Emeralds you have, or else!" Robotnick replied.

"Or else what, ya big loser?" Sonic asked as Robotnick began to turn around.

"Or else I'll take them by force, the hard way!" Robotnick replied as he flew off.

"Wasn't force always the hard way?" Mega Man asked. But then Robotnick returned inside a big flying machine with two holes in the front. He would fly around and pause every few seconds and rockets would come out of the holes. The rockets were a bit slow, but many, so it was a little difficult to avoid. After a few barrages, Robotnick would then press a button which made huge spikes come out of the holes. He would then try to plow into the heroes, but wind up getting the spikes stuck which made him an easy target for Sonic and Tails. Mega Man mainly took him on while he was flying, which was a little tough as he flew around so much, but after a few more hits the machine began to sputter and spark, and soon it blew up and all was left was the flying machine that he was in when they first saw him. He then landed on his side facing away from the heroes.

"Well, that wasn't so hard," Mega Man said.

"Piece of cake," Sonic added as Tails was running up to him. Then a metallic arm came out of Robotnick's machine and plowed into Tails and knocked him back while sending the Emerald he had into the air, and the arm quickly grabbed it and went back to Robotnick whose machine wasn't the badly damaged at all, as it was in the air again and he had the Emerald firmly in hand.

"Yes, now to put it to the test. Chaos, time to eat!" Robotnick called.

"Chaos?" Sonic asked, rather shocked. Then a puddle of water appeared and some creature of some sort formed. It had two toed-feet, three-fingered hands, and two long hair-like things on the back of its head. Its eyes were green, and it had a visible brain-like thing in its head.

"Oh no, isn't that the same monster I faced the other day?" Sonic then added.

"You faced this guy before?" Mega Man asked.

"Yeah, and he was a bit easy before, but still annoying," Sonic replied. Robotnick then tossed the Emerald at Chaos and they were both enveloped in a bright light. After the light faded, Chaos had bones in his right arm which made him a bit bigger, and the Emerald was at the base of the hand.

"AH! It transformed!" Tails exclaimed.

"Oh yes! It is just as the stone tablets predicted!" Robotnick said gleefully. "Chaos's power grows, each time a feed him a Chaos emerald, and with all seven Emeralds inside him he will be invincible, and work for me! Together we will destroy Station Square, and on its ruins, I'll build Robotnick Land, the ultimate city, where I will rule it all!" he added.

"Not if I can help it!" Mega Man said as he bolted for Chaos. He then jumped high and was about to let loose a charged shot right in Chaos's face, but Chaos smacked him really hard and sent him flying backwards. But Mega Man did a back-flip and landed softly.

"I don't care who you are, but your power will be no match for Chaos when he is more powerful! I doubt you'll beat him when he has _six_ Emeralds in him!" Robotnick said before he tossed a light pellet and temporarily blinded them.

"Sonic, we can't let him getaway with this, can we?" Tails asked.

"No way, Tails, we got to get the Emeralds before he does, and somehow pry the ones he has out of that thing," Sonic replied.

"It won't be easy, but we have to, in order to save that woman," Mega Man added.

"Without any more Emeralds, that monster won't be able to transform, so he should be a cinch to beat after that," Tails said.

"All right, by the way, what was it you wanted to show us before? Robotnick sort of distracted us," Mega Man asked.

"Oh yeah, it's over here," Tails replied as he trotted off. He then bent down next to his shop and picked something up and brought it over. It was a rather odd-looking green gem, it was somehow floating over the small stone pedestal that Tails was holding.

"What is that thing?" Sonic asked.

"I have no idea, but maybe Mega Man can figure it out," Tails said as he handed it over to him. Mega Man looked at it carefully, and reached a reasonable conclusion.

"It must be a key of some sort, as it seems like the bottom of this thing was removed from something, note the scrape marks," Mega Man said as he pointed.

"So all we have to do is find where it once rested," Sonic commented.

"There is an opening in the side of the cliff over here, I found the gem a few days after it opened, so it might belong in there," Tails added. They went back down the steps and went into the opening which was to their right. They walked in and found a hole in the floor which had leaves and sticks fluttering around above it. There was a strong breeze from the hole, and was enough to hold them in the air. Way above the hole was another hole in the ceiling, if the air was strong enough, it could send them out that hole. They found a spot in one of the walls where it looked like the gem once rested. Mega Man held it close and it spun out of his hands and placed itself firmly in place, and a huge gust of air came out of the hole next to them.

"Well, that did it," Mega Man said. They then jumped over the hole and were sent out of the hole in the ceiling, and right into the Windy Valley.

"The legendary Windy Valley," Tails said.

"Looks like it once was occupied by some kind of race," Mega Man commented. The place had flowers, and all kinds of old artifacts lying around. Grain was all over the stones that were lying around. But it wasn't as abandoned as they once thought, Robotnick's robots were around.

"Figured they would be here," Sonic said. They made their way over old bridges and fought robots that would camouflage themselves. They also had to avoid iron spike-balls that would rise and fall. They even had to run along an invisible path made of wind. After a few minutes the wind in the area began to pick up a bit, and the area began to turn grey.

"What's with the sudden weather change?" Mega Man asked. They went a bit further and got yanked off the ground and sucked into a tornado. Of course in real life if they got close to a tornado they would be sent who knows where, but it happened in the game I'm basing this chapter on.

"What happened?" Sonic asked as he stood up. He then noticed the insane amount of wind blowing around them.

"We somehow got sucked into a tornado, and parts of the area are sticking through," Tails replied.

"We have to make our way to the top, I see a high power spring up there," Mega Man added. They slowly made their way to the top and hit the spring and were sent right out the top. They were airborne for awhile until they landed at some kind of sky ruin.

"Talk about your high altitudes," Mega Man said.

"I've been higher," Sonic said.

'This guy's been everywhere,' Mega Man thought. They made their way along the paths that were before. After awhile, they came across one of the Emeralds.

"All right! We got one!" Mega Man exclaimed. After a few hours, they made it back to the Mystic Ruins.

"Where do you think the next one is at?" Tails asked. Then the voice that spoke to Mega Man before he got there spoke to all of them.

"Head to station square," she said. Tails screamed a little.

"Sorry to have startled you, I should have given a little more warning, I guess," she added.

"It's cool, so where in Station Square is the Emerald?" Sonic asked.

"It is at the casino that just opened," she replied.

"Cool, so no badnicks will be there, then?" Sonic asked.

"It just opened, and it is a building so it would be hard to have them go through the front door, now hurry," she replied.

"Thanks for the info, now you just rest," Mega Man said.

"I will, good luck," she said. They got on the train and made it to station square. When they reached the casino it was about dark. But the doors were locked.

"And I thought casinos were open at night," Sonic said. Then a woman walked up. She had long brown hair, and wore bright yellow cloths, and a yellow hat.

"They made it interesting, see that spot above the sign? I think if you hit that, the doors will open," she said.

"Thanks for the tip. Ready, Mega?" Sonic asked.

"Ready," Mega Man replied. Sonic curled up into a ball and Mega Man gave him a swift kick and he hit the switch and the doors opened.

"Welcome to the casino," a female voice said.

"Rather odd method, but hey, there is a Chaos Emerald inside there," Sonic said as they marched inwards. The place was full of flashing lights and bright colors.

"Now where would they stick the Emerald?" Sonic asked. The voice then called them again, this time calling out their names before talking outright, but Tails still jumped a bit, but not as bad as before.

"They didn't place the Emerald here, it is in the vault area, you need rings to deposit, they will then be turned into coins and get piled up in the vault, you need real high numbers to reach the Emerald," she said.

"So we get to have a little fun while we're here. For once a little relaxation," Sonic said.

"Just don't get distracted that you forget about the Emerald," she added.

"Don't sweat it, having too much money can do things to your head anyway," Sonic replied.

"So how are we going to go about this?" Tails asked.

"That I'm not sure," Mega Man said.

"Either play at the tables or try the slot machines. Now that I think about this, this is going to be complicated, we don't have money or rings right now, this is going to be a long night," Sonic said. This part is a bit hard to translate into writing without adding or altering a bit, but I kept the gist of it down. At that moment one of those girls that you see at other casinos dressed in what they call the bunny suit came up to them. But the outfit was a bit more pleasant. The swimsuit part didn't reveal too much of the top or bottom, and wasn't insanely tight as the others. Her hair was long and brown, and she had bright blue eyes, and she was nicely built.

"Welcome, I see you're sort of wondering what to do first, well, mister Sonic, we made pinball machines just for you," she said.

"Pinball machines just for me?" Sonic asked.

"Well, not just for you, but more along your line, you're inside the machine, and to put it bluntly, you're the ball!" she chuckled.

"Sweet, we can get a whole mess of rings that way, this won't take to long at all," Sonic said.

"Right this way," she said as she led them. She stopped in front of a platform of some sort.

"Step on this and you'll be warped to the pinball world, and if you want to try another one when you lose all you balls in this one, there is another one across from here," she said. Sonic stepped onto the platform and was warped into the pinball world and Mega Man and Tails could see him on the screen. They watched him do his stuff rather well, and he had almost a hundred rings after about ten minutes because of how well he was doing. Mega Man couldn't help but notice that the girl was sort of hovering, not intentionally, as it was her job to try and be on hand. She didn't seem to mind the work, as she just seemed natural at it, she didn't have to pose to get spotted as she just stood there naturally. She didn't even have to try and fake a smile; she seemed to enjoy the job. But Mega Man figured it must be tiring a bit as to have some of the guy's just gawk at her, but she didn't mind too much.

"Do you ever get tired of this work?" Mega Man asked.

"This is my first time here, but it is a bit unnerving I guess, to stand here dressed like this, but I will only work here once a week, so I do other jobs, so its not like I do this all the time. Why do you ask?" she asked. Mega Man wasn't even sure why he asked, she was just standing there and he just sort of started a conversation.

"Just trying to have a conversation, I guess," Mega Man replied. Tails wasn't even paying attention as he was watching Sonic intently. Sonic soon had about six hundred rings or so when he lost his last ball. But after he was done, he didn't reappear where he teleported from.

"Where did he go?" Tails asked.

"He was teleported in front of the vault, I'll take you there," the girl replied. They followed to where Sonic was waiting.

"There you guys are, so what do I do with the rings?" Sonic asked.

"Follow me," the girl replied. They followed her to the inside of the vault. It was very tall, and they could see the Emerald waiting at the top rim. There was a switch that Sonic could stand on.

"Stand on that switch and everything else will be taken care of," the girl said. Sonic stepped on the switch and two metallic arms grabbed him and hoisted him up, and shook him vigorously and all his rings flew out into the vault and turned into coins and made a huge, tall pile rather fast. After it was done it showed the amount of ring coins were in the room after the arms set Sonic done, who was a little wobbly.

"What a way to deposit rings," Sonic said a little garbled, but he soon straightened out. Mega Man made his way up the pile of coins and got the Emerald, and slid back down the pile.

"I didn't know that was up there," the girl said.

"You wouldn't if you were just hired here," Mega Man said.

"Well, thanks for the help, miss…uh," Sonic tried to say.

"Jennifer," Jennifer replied.

"Well, thanks none the less, see you around, Jennifer," Mega Man said as they left.

"Take care," Jennifer called as she waved goodbye. They didn't get thirty feet away from the building when an all too familiar voice spoke.

"So there you are!" Robotnick called.

"Robotnick!" Sonic said angrily. Robotnick then let out a knockout gas and Tails dropped the Emerald that they just got, and the metallic arm picked it before Mega Man could make a move. Sonic and Tails remained conscious long enough to see Mega Man try and get the Emerald back by jumping onto Robotnick's machine, but got a real bad electric shock and he fell limp onto the ground. Hours went by, and a strange dream began to happen in Mega Man's mind. Various voices spoke, but he doesn't know who they belong to.

"Every living thing that has a soul has a desire, and my desire is to rule every square inch of the universe!"

"Join me, and you will suffer no more,"

"Without you…there is nothing else for me to live for…"

He could soon see faint lights here and there, and what looked like capsules of some sort, and could see something that looked feminine inside, but he couldn't make out any details.

"You are my ultimate creation, now go and destroy those weak humans,"

"As you wish." A few minutes passed, and a voice he seems to remember slightly, began to speak.

"You have innocent blood on your hands because of me, unknowingly, you became my greatest warrior, now find the princess and kill her!" The voice began to repeat the last two words over and over.

"KILL HER-KILL HER-KILL HER!" almost none stop. A faint image began to form, one he seemed to want to forget, but it kept on forming, and it reached out for him, and all went silent for a moment.

"Join with me, my dear warrior." And red eyes became crystal clear, and the hand became clear, and was about to touch him. But he woke up, and found himself in front of the casino; it was a few hours after dawn. Sonic and Tails had just woken up, too.

"What happened to that last Emerald we just had?" Tails asked. He seemed to have lost a tiny bit of memory after getting knocked out.

"Blast, so it wasn't a nightmare, that egg-head did steal it. But at least the other one is still safe," Sonic replied.

"So Robotnick has two to our one, and that is not good, we have to hurry and get the other ones!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yeah, but where do we go from here?" Mega Man asked. But then they heard Jennifer calling them. They saw her running towards them, and it looked like she was holding something. She was now dressed in regular clothes. She wore a black shirt, blue jean jacket, blue skirt, and brown knee-high boots.

"Thank goodness you're all ok, I was about to call the hospital," she said as she stopped.

"You tried to wake us?" Sonic asked.

"I just got off my shift a few minutes ago, I saw you guys just lying there and I shook you really hard, but you didn't even mumble, so I went into a panic and ran for the nearest phone, but while I was running I heard something thud in the ally and I found this," Jennifer replied as she held out a blue gem that looked similar to the one they used yesterday. Tails took it and looked at it.

"I can see a snowflake inside, this is a snow stone," Tails said.

"Maybe another area opened up in the mystic ruins, let's head on over and check it out," Sonic said.

"Thanks for sparing us a crazy hunt, Jennifer," Mega Man said before they began to run off.

"You're welcome, maybe I'll see you guys again," Jennifer said as she waved goodbye again.

"We probably will," Mega Man called before they entered another station that was close by. Soon they were back at the Mystic ruins and just as they stepped out of the train they saw the wall to their left collapse and there was a new opening. They entered it and went a ways inside, before finding a rather odd door. But sure enough, there was a place to set the snow stone. They placed it and the door opened. They walked around a pool of water and entered an ice area. Sure enough Robotnick's goons were already there, this time a bit more themed for the area.

They had to go all over the place in this area as they had to go up and down and jump from ice pillar to ice pillar that were on the ceiling. After following the path, they came across a fenced off opening. They smashed it and saw three snow boards below them. The thing that got their attention the most was the avalanche they caused. They quickly jumped down and landed on the boards and did some fancy stunts while making their escape from the falling snow. They soon got away from it and kept on going and avoided the bombs that were being dropped from the badnicks that were in hot air balloons. After avoiding crashing into some trees, they found the Emerald. This time Tails scooped it up while sliding by. They soon made it back to the Mystic ruins, and were trying to figure out where to go next. There was a mine cart almost straight from the train station that led to a forest area, so they figured that would be their next best move. They ran up the hill, and came across a red echidna, known to Sonic and Tails as Knuckles.

"Hey, Knuckles!" Sonic called. But Knuckles didn't seem to want to be pleasant at all as he charged at all three of them with a powerful punch which they just barely avoided.

"Something bugging you?" Sonic then asked.

"No time for games, Sonic, hand over all the Emeralds you have, right now!" Knuckles demanded.

"Let's just see you take them!" Sonic replied.

"We need them more than you right now, so could you lend us a hand?" Mega Man asked. But Knuckles was still on the offensive, so it was useless to try and talk things through, so Mega Man was just going to use his melee attacks. They traded punches and kicks for a few good minutes. After a few more hits, Sonic's back was to a huge pond that was next to the mine cart area. He and Knuckles soon rammed into each other and Sonic lost all of his Emeralds and they landed close to the pond. Before they could even react, a beam had sucked them up, and Robotnick had them as usual.

"Oh no, not again!" Sonic exclaimed. Knuckles ran up and realized they were Chaos Emeralds.

"Those are Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"That's right, fool, you made it all too easy, you practically gave them to me," Robotnick replied.

"Knuckles, don't tell me that egg-head tricked you again?" Sonic asked.

"I feel like such an idiot!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"Now I have four lovely Emeralds! Chaos!" Robotnick called. Chaos appeared again, this time he had two Emeralds inside him.

"Yikes! He is sure to get bigger with two at once!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"These are for you, my friend!" Robotnick said as he tossed the Emeralds at Chaos. Like before, Chaos and the emeralds merged in a bright light, only this time, his upper half somewhat stayed the same, only bigger, but the real difference was that his lower torso turned fish-like.

"Now he's like a shark!" Tails said. They then noticed the huge fin on Chaos's back.

"Man, no one ever cuts us any slack," Sonic complained. Chaos then dove into the pond, and it grew a little bit bigger.

"If he makes that pond bigger, than the train station will be in big trouble!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"I'll lend a hand, we all have the same enemy," Knuckles said before they jumped to some huge lily pads in the pond. Chaos was under the surface of the water zigzagging. He would fully liquefy whenever Mega Man would try and shoot him. They kept on jumping from lily pad to lily pad to avoid going under as Chaos would put a hole in the pads with his huge fin. He would sometimes do a back-flip which would send out three waves and would knock down the pads. He would even extend his arm to try and smack them, and succeeded a few times. He would sometimes turn into multiple balls over water and charge at them. He was hard to hit, but he would rise up to the surface and pause there a few seconds, which gave them enough time to nail him in the head. During one of his attacks, he knocked Mega Man into the water. Mega Man took a hard blow to the head and was a little dazed, but he could still see Chaos really clear, so he pointed his buster at his head. For some reason time seemed to stop around them. Mega Man was wondering why Chaos wasn't trying to attack him while he was charging; it was as if it knew it wouldn't matter.

'What is he doing?' Mega Man asked in his head. But then a gentle voice that sounded so familiar spoke in his head.

"Can you change it?" it asked. Mega Man was confused but it continued.

"Can you change our fate? Can you change mine? Can you change my sister's fate? Can you change your fate?" it asked. Mega Man had no idea what to make of what it was talking about, but time seemed to have resumed as Chaos charged for him, but he let out the shot out of shock and nailed Chaos right in the face and he vanished. The pond then returned to its normal size and he swam to the surface.

"Nice shot, Mega Man, you sure showed that monster a thing or two," Sonic said. They got out of the pond and Robotnick made a speech of some sort.

"Behold my floating masterpiece, the Egg-carrier!" he exclaimed. They looked up and saw a rather huge ship flying over the area. It was red, black and yellow, and had a rather ugly rendition of Robotnick's face stamped on the sides. Of course his face wasn't that much to look at, either. "But it pales in comparison to the power of Chaos. So _adieu_, until we meet again, Sonic!" Robotnick laughed as a tractor beam from the Egg-carrier pulled him in.

"We've got to stop him!" Mega Man yelled.

"Let's use the Tornado to go after him!" Tails replied.

"You guys go, I've got some unfinished business to take care of," Knuckles said.

"No problem Knuckles, we've got this one," Sonic replied before they went their separate ways. Our three heroes ran to Tails' workshop and Tails went inside. Soon the garage door opened and out came the Tornado; it was a red plane with Sonic's name stamped on both sides. It had a small gun built above the engine. Sonic hopped onto part behind the pilot seat and Mega Man jumped onto the top pair of wings in the front. A runway came up from the ground and the trees leaned to the sides to give them room.

"A custom launch pad, pretty slick," Mega Man commented. The plane revved up and took off after the Egg-carrier. After a few minutes it came into view.

"We should take care of the defenses before we make a landing," Tails said.

"No sweat, you take care of what I miss," Mega Man said as his hand transformed into his buster as usual. Many anti-air ships came at them, but they were fairly weak and they only took one or two shots to go down. The real hassle was the mines that floated around the ship. Another thing that was a hassle was the spike bomb turrets that were on the sides of the ship, as those things came in fast. After a few minutes they were past the front of the ship, and had taken care of all the defenses.

"We did it!" Tails exclaimed.

"Not bad shooting, guys," Sonic commented. However things didn't go as smooth as they thought. The sort of long beak part of the ship opened up to reveal a huge laser canon, and they were flying right in front of it. It didn't take long for it to build up power, but they began to turn to the left to try and make a landing, but lost the right wing as the beam from the canon was huge when fired.

"We're hit!" Tails exclaimed as the plane began to go into a corkscrew spin.

"Tell us something we don't know!" Mega Man said as he grabbed hold of the front of the wing as it built up speed.

"WWWWHHHHHOOOOOAAAAAAA!" Sonic screamed when the plane reached its full speed of the spin. The speed of the fall kept on increasing, and soon the part Mega Man was holding onto snapped out and he flew off. He couldn't even tell where he was going to land as he was spinning so fast he couldn't focus on anything, he soon hit a body of water before blacking out. Things were black for the longest time it seemed, all there was, was blackness. No light or sound. But then he could feel again, or so he thought, he felt like was awake, but his body didn't seem to want to move, or open his eyes. But his eyes were already opened as a light began to form in front of him. He felt like he was floating, he managed to move towards the light, and saw what looked like a woman inside, all curled up, he couldn't make out much detail as the light was so bright, but he could tell she had long hair. But then that voice spoke again.

"Are you the one for me? Am I the one for you?" it asked.

"Who are you?" Mega Man called.

"I am…a strange being; I'm not like other people. Are you the one for me?" it asked again.

"What are you talking about?" Mega Man asked.

"Time will tell…time is long and harsh for you…though harsh for me too…but is to short for me…" it replied. Mega Man had no idea of what to make of all this.

"Find me…" it then asked before the figure faded, but the light got very bright. Mega Man's senses returned as he realized he was under water, and was looking at the sun. Mega Man swam to the surface and realized he was at the beach area around where he found Tails. A few moments before, the girl named Jennifer that he met before, was strolling down the beach and thought she saw something fall in the water, heading on over to a spot where she was closer to where the object hit, Mega Man soon popped out.

"I thought I saw someone fall into the water. Are you alright Mega Man?" she called.

"Jennifer! Yeah, I'm alright, just a bruised ego," Mega Man replied as he swam for shore. He saw that she was still dressed the same when he last saw her. She ran partway into the water a little below the knee is where she stopped and helped Mega Man up.

"How did you get here?" she then asked. Mega Man looked high up into the sky, but couldn't see a thing other than clouds.

"Either I flew way off course, or the Egg-carrier was way up there," Mega Man replied. Jennifer then noticed he had an expression on his face that looked like something was bothering him.

"Are you ok? Is everything running properly?" she asked.

"I'm fine physically, but I keep on having strange dreams, that I can't make heads or tails out of," Mega Man replied. "Are they images of my past? Or are they images of the future?" Before Jennifer could give an answer, one of Robotnick's robots landed.

"Oh great, a guy to make sure I'm dead," Mega Man complained. Jennifer ran off while they both went at it, but another was coming from the direction she was heading. As a matter of fact, a whole mess of them were coming from all sides. One of them rammed into her so hard, she flew way out into the water. She knew she was at the bottom as she felt the ground sliding beneath her feet. She kicked franticly to try and stop as she didn't want to go too far out. She soon stopped and she tried to swim to the surface but she felt a tug on he legs and she couldn't get any higher. She looked down and saw her legs got entangled in seaweed. She tried tugging on her legs but it was one of those strong types. She tried to untangle her legs, but it was a huge mess. She could hear loud booms above the water, but wasn't sure is that was a good sign. She still tried to swim up to the top, but still no luck, and her air was running out. Her vision began to blur a bit, but she saw something coming for her, but she wasn't sure what to do, she tried tugging on her leg again but still nothing. But she then heard an odd noise and the tension on her legs left, so she quickly swam to the surface and took a big breath when she burst through the surface. She coughed a few times before Mega Man resurfaced.

"Thanks, I owe you one," she said before coughing again.

"We should get you to a safe place, and get you out of those wet clothes," Mega Man said. They made their way back to the hotel. Jennifer quivered when they walked by the pool.

"I don't think I'll swim for awhile," she said.

"Almost drowning isn't a fun thing, that's for sure," Mega Man said. They walked to the place she stayed.

"I'll be ok from here," she said.

"Ok, but try and stay with a bunch of people for the next few days," Mega Man replied. He didn't need to explain the fact that it is dangerous to be alone like she was on the beach before. Mega Man soon left to try and find Sonic and Tails. He went over to the casino area and found Sonic with a female hedgehog. Now this is where I really alter things. Sort a slight touch, but still a bit drastic in a way. She was pink, and she wore a red outfit with red boots with white trim here and there.

"Mega Man, this is Amy, my girlfriend," Sonic said.

"Girlfriend?" Mega Man asked shocked.

"Don't worry, she can handle herself now. As a matter of fact, I'll let her fill you in," Sonic replied.

"I was walking through town like every other day, until I saw the Egg-carrier fly overhead, and just a few seconds later I got bashed in the head by this little bird," Amy said as she held out a small bird. It was blue colored and it had something around its neck. "So I figured it somehow got away before that madman was able to do whatever he wanted to do to this bird. Then I figured he might come after him, so I looked around and found Sonic,"

"So we're going to protect that bird?" Mega Man asked.

"Don't worry, I know you guys are after the Emeralds, so I'll help you out, seeing as to how Tails seems to have landed elsewhere for the moment," Amy replied. Before they left the area, Jennifer ran up to them. She was still dressed like before, just a slightly different color blue and stuff.

"What are you doing here?" Mega Man asked shocked.

"I owe you big, and I intend to repay you in full, and besides, I'm prepared now," Jennifer replied. She had a knife and a handgun, but she had them tucked under her jacket.

"Alright, but be careful," Mega Man added. They walked back out of the casino area and went through the hotel. They walked alongside water to their right and were going to pass the entrance to an amusement park called Twinkle Park. The sun was slowly setting, and Mega Man looked at it. He could also see the moon, but something about the sun caught his eye. He thought he saw a black spot on it. After a few seconds he stopped in his tracks when a pure black-mass of energy formed in front of his face and some kind of face formed in it. It looked insanely demonic; it had a white mouth and red eyes. It looked sort like some kind of static. Mega Man's head began to hurt a lot, he held it and cried out in pain. His senses dulled, he couldn't feel anything but the pain, he couldn't hear anything. But something was happening in his head; parts of his memory returned in brief flashes. He remembered killing a lot of people, and saw a woman stab herself. The image he saw before his head began to hurt was the last thing to flash by. But he was then looking at the pavement, on his knees, his head still throbbing a little.

'I...I…I murdered a lot of people…but why?' he asked in his head. His senses returned and could hear voices again, asking him if he was alright, and what happened.

"I'm ok now, but something triggered something in my head. Memories of the past came back. Small ones, but I remember it vaguely. Only small chunks so far, I've yet to get back something that tells me more about myself," he replied.

"But I thought you were just a machine," Sonic commented. Mega Man looked at his hands, half expecting them to be covered in blood, but to his relief, they were only shaking slightly, but they soon stopped.

"I have no idea what I am anymore," he replied.

"You would think for the time you were agonizing in pain, for how long it was, you would think you would have more memory back then what you got, you only got a small chunk back, right?" Jennifer asked. To Mega Man it felt like only a few seconds, but to them, it was longer.

"Not enough to give me much detail," Mega Man replied. True it didn't give him much detail, but it sure made him feel uneasy. They walked past the entrance to the park, and coming down the sidewalk towards them was a rather huge bulky-looking robot. It was big, but didn't look too menacing.

"He must be after the bird!" Amy yelled.

"No problem, he is just a bunch of cheesy hardware," Sonic said.

"We can't fight him in the street! People are going to get hurt!" Jennifer said. People were in a panic running everywhere. Mega Man held his arm that had the buster and it trembled. The images of the people he killed were going through his head.

"I don't want anyone to get hurt in the crossfire," Mega Man added.

"We can get away through here!" Amy yelled. Sonic looked and his eyes bugged out.

"Through the Park?" Sonic asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, cute couples get in free! And seeing as to how this guy isn't cute, and doesn't have a mate, we can get away easy," Amy replied.

"The cops should be able to take care of this guy, that is once he starts trying to break through the entrance," Jennifer added.

"Well, let's book, as that guy isn't getting further away," Sonic said. The entrance to Twinkle Park was made of tubes with flashy lights. They quickly entered the tube and inside was an elevator. The door quickly sealed shut and the elevator went up, when it stopped they ran down the path and could see the outside. They ran deeper into the park and entered a huge round room. They were going to take a quick breather, but they almost got creamed by some flying bumper cars.

"More of Robotnick's badnicks!" Sonic said.

"They're all over the place!" Mega Man added. Jennifer pulled out her gun and shot all of the bots inside the cars. They were going to rest, but the doors behind them opened, in came the huge robot.

"What do we do now?" Amy asked.

"Grab a car and drive!" Mega Man replied as he jumped into one.

"See ya later, tin can!" Sonic called as they drove into the racetrack. The track was like a floating highway in space, as that was the theme of it. The track had loops and speed jumps. A few spots even had fake asteroids floating above the track. They did come across some more cars with badnicks in them, even some on the track itself, but they made it through. At one spot they went single file, and wound up stopping dead in their tracks and flew out of the cars into a hole and landed in a rollercoaster, and it started up and they went a ways down the track before it turned upside down and dumped them. But they landed on a huge balloon and they bounced a few times.

"Good thing your knife didn't fall out and pop this thing," Sonic said.

"I've never been here before, so this will be a long trip," Jennifer said as she tried to standup, which is hard to do when you're walking on something that is continually shifting. Once they got off the balloon they were able to get a good look at the area. It sure was bright and colorful, and the lights flashed. It looked like they were at some sort of castle, as there was a railing behind them that looked like it was overlooking a starlit sky.

"This place sure is bright, but that was the idea, as it is called Twinkle Park," Jennifer said. She could hear something odd for the past few minutes, and it was driving her nuts.

"What on earth is that sound?" she asked. The answer was the weird blue robot that had a large amount of water between its head and legs. Because it was so tall and uneven, it waddled back and forth and the weird sound was made with each step.

"That thing is weird, even for Robotnick," Amy commented. Sonic tried to bash it, but he bounced off.

"That stuff in the middle makes it hard to hit, even hurt it for that matter," Sonic said. Jennifer tried to pop it with he knife, but got the same result as Sonic.

"How do we stop this thing?" she asked. After a few more steps it wound up shrinking. Jennifer saw her chance and shot it and it blew up. With that done they went down the only path open. They came across a water filled area about ankle deep. And at the other side were two more of those weird bots.

"They are so slow, let's just avoid them," Mega Man said. They went past them and managed to get past a rather odd trap that was probably setup by the badnicks. It was a carousal at one point, but they fitted it with huge spike balls. They got past that trap. Jennifer took a few steps out into the open, and a round black bomb landed at her feet. She jumped about ten feet in the air while going backwards before it exploded. After she landed she saw a robot monkey, two of them in fact, both sitting on separate barrels. Jennifer noticed the barrels had fuses on the top and had the boom symbol on the front. One shot to each of them blew them sky high. The trip through the park was long; they came across an area where they had to jump across some spinning tower tops. At one part they had to carefully walk along the edge of a huge tower, but they soon came across the exit and hurried on through. Once they reached the area to see if they wanted to go back into the park, or head back to town, they realized something.

"Aw, shoot! We lost Amy!" Sonic exclaimed.

"I'll bet that robot hauled after her," Mega Man said.

"We have to find her before it does," Jennifer added. They went back into town and split up. They spent hours looking for her. Sonic went to the highway, while Mega Man and Jennifer went into the sewers. The sewers weren't that big, but big enough to take a few hours. They came across a wooden door in a high area, they were going to enter it but Jennifer paused.

"What is it?" Mega Man asked.

"I have to ask, what was it you saw before we entered?" Jennifer asked.

"What I saw?"

"What were the memory flashes you saw? They weren't pleasant were they?"

"No they weren't."

"Are you afraid of what you once were?"

"Kind of."

"It should be fair to warn you, whatever it was in your past it is only in the past."

"For most people that's true, but for some, the past always comes back to haunt you." And they left it at that. They opened the door and were in some kind of shop.

"What are you doing in my building?" the manager asked. They quickly hurried out and were in a different part of town.

"This is where Sonic fought some kind of weird monster. You've seen it though, right?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah, I fought it once," Mega Man replied. They made it back to the casino area and found Sonic there.

"Did you find her?" Sonic asked.

"Not a thing," Mega Man replied.

"Oh, Amy, where can she be?" Sonic asked out loud. But then her voice screamed. She was in a tube high above the street; she was being carried by the robot from before.

"He is heading towards the Mystic Ruins!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"We'll head him off there!" Mega Man said before they entered the train station not to far from them. Not to long after the robot was there, and Amy was getting mad.

"Let me go you hunk of junk!" she yelled as she flailed around. Soon she heard Sonic's voice.

"Hey, ya tin bolt, hand Amy over to me or I'll squash ya!" Sonic demanded. He was standing at the top of the station. He and Mega Man then jumped down and Jennifer came down the stairs barely a second later.

"Alright, you lame excuse for a robot, enough fun and games!" Mega Man said. Jennifer aimed her gun right at the center of its head.

"I'll give you to the count of five!" But before she could even start to count, the area got dark.

"Hey what's going on?" she asked.

"Oh no, not that bulky thing again!" Sonic exclaimed. It was the Egg-carrier, and it was undoubtedly for the robot. Mega Man then saw Amy had the bird firmly in her hand. But before he could say anything, the tractor beam quickly pulled the robot into the air.

"AH! Sonic, help me!" Amy yelled. Soon the Egg-carrier began to fly over the mountains to their left.

"Maybe we can reach it by going past the ice area," Mega Man suggested. They quickly entered the cave and went past the ice area and entered a cliff-side area. The view was beautiful, but now wasn't the time for sightseeing. As they ran across the small grassy field, they saw a wooden bridge connected to another chunk of island.

"That place looks familiar," Sonic commented. They quickly ran across the bridge and soon found an old ruined shrine area. At the top of a huge pedestal was a green glow. They ran up the steps and found the huge gem called the Master Emerald. But it wasn't whole, it was hugely fractured.

"So this is what Knuckles was up to," Sonic said.

"What are you talking about?" Mega Man asked. Jennifer was the most confused.

"He thought we had Emerald shards, that is why he attacked, Robotnick made him think we were after them, too," Sonic replied. Jennifer then ran her hand across the emerald's surface.

"So this is where that monster came from," she said.

"It must have been sealed inside somehow. But I know Knuckles is only doing what he can to restore it, as this is what keeps Angel Island in the air," Sonic said.

"This place flies?" Mega Man asked.

"This thing sure has some kick, Robotnick tried to use it as a weapon once," Sonic replied. The female voice that spoke to them awhile ago called them again.

"Once you have the emeralds, you must help Knuckles repair the Master Emerald. The Seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald are they keys to reach my world, you must defeat the Chaos creature," she said.

"We've wasted enough time here, we've got to help Amy!" Sonic said. They quickly ran back across the bridge and found a gate guarded by another robot monkey, this time in a cage, but Mega Man was able to blast him and the gate opened, allowing them to continue. The Egg-carrier maybe in view, but it was still a long ways away. The image that Mega Man saw before, still lingered in the back of his head, the faint laughing sound that he heard, echoed in his head as they ran down the path towards the Egg-carrier. He was indeed right, the past does comeback to haunt some people, and his past would soon haunt him, very soon indeed.

End chapter 7


	8. The hunt for the Emeralds part 2

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 8

The hunt for the Emeralds

Part 2

High in the blue sky where a storm is starting to brew flies the Egg-carrier. Somewhere inside that flying craft of doom, is the female hedgehog named Amy, who was captured only about twenty minutes ago. The Egg-carrier is flying over the Mystic Ruin Mountains, and running along the path in the mountains, are Mega Man, Jennifer, and Sonic the Hedgehog. They are bound and determined to board the Egg-carrier, and give Robotnick the worst taste of defeat yet. They came across an area that had a reddish tint to it; the area was a little volcanic. The journey through the mountains was a long one. Parts of the area had lava bursting out. Some parts of the path crumbled as they ran across it. The enemies were few, but hard as they were hard to hit. After a few minutes they fell down inside the mountain. The heat was hard on Jennifer, as the area had lava, which rose up in a few spots. Mega Man carried her when the lava at one point forced them to jump from one spot to the next very fast. They soon reached the outside and saw the Egg-carrier. It was close, but not close enough for them to board.

"How are we going to save Amy now?" Jennifer asked as Mega Man set her down. Only a second or two passed, and the sound of a plane could be heard. Looking around they saw a blue plane with some yellow, and flying it was Tails.

"Tails, you're ok!" Sonic called. As Tails made his way over, they saw an Emerald was attached to the propeller. Mega Man jumped onto the top wing and Jennifer got into the seat behind Tails which he made just in case someone else came along. And Sonic stood on the spot behind Jennifer. The clouds in the sky began to darken the winds began to get fierce.

"We'll have to be on our toes, Robotnick is sure to have beefed up the defenses since the last time we tried this," Mega Man said.

"Once we get to the front, we have to take care of that laser cannon," Sonic added.

"And once we get Amy to safety, we'll sink this overgrown tub," Jennifer added. The air battle was similar to the last time they attempted this, just stepped up a little. Soon they reached the front of the Egg-carrier and were about to face the cannon.

"Ha, so far so good," Tails said.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Sonic said.

"You bet, watch this, transforming now!" Tails yelled as he hit a button that beeped. A robotic arm came out and grabbed Sonic and held him up into the air. Another came out and grabbed Mega Man and the whole plane changed into some sort of jet-plane. After the plane was done transforming, the arm set them both back down, but it placed Mega Man in front of Sonic as there were no wings for Mega Man to stand on. Some spike ball cannons appeared above the laser cannon and shot at them a few times, but missed as to how fast the plane now moved. The laser cannon soon opened and Tails and Mega Man both shot at it while it was building up power. It took a few times, but they destroyed the cannon, and they were safe to land.

"Finally, we're clear for a landing," Jennifer said as they closed in.

"Uh oh, I forgot something," Tails said.

"What's that?" Sonic asked.

"There is no landing gear in this mode!" Tails replied.

"WHAT!?" they all asked in shock. The plane then did a nose skim across the surface of the ship. They were a little shaken up, but were not harmed.

"I can't believe you forgot to make a landing gear for that mode!" Jennifer said.

"Hey, I was in a hurry," Tails replied.

"Either way I doubt old Egg-head will think you used a Chaos Emerald to make it work, so it will be safe here," Sonic said.

"This place is fairly massive, so it will be hard to find Amy in this mess," Mega Man said.

"You're right, my friend, so here we go!" Sonic said as they went the only direction they could. They went only about thirty feet before Robotnick's voice filled the air.

"You fools haven't the power this vessel _really_ has! Get a load of this!" he yelled. And quickly the whole thing began to shake, and the area in front of them changed shape, the wings changed positions, and they were cut off from the quick route they were headed for.

"AH! I didn't think this thing could do that!" Tails exclaimed.

"Not only did we pick up speed, we're cut off from the bridge!" Sonic added.

"The only way for you to get to me, is through the sky deck! I doubt even you'll be able to figure this one out!" Robotnick laughed.

"Oh yeah? Well, we'll show you, bring it on!" Mega Man yelled back. They marched up the small ramp that was now in front of them and found a small door.

"I guess this leads to the sky deck," Sonic said.

"I just hope it doesn't lead to a trap door and we plummet a hundred feet," Jennifer commented. The door opened to a dark room, they slowly entered, and they did drop, but only about five feet.

"I think my heart stopped for a moment," Tails said.

"My heart is still pounding fast," Jennifer added. Then an opening appeared next to them, and just a split second before they could acknowledge it, they were shot through it towards a pillar. Mega Man managed to do a slight bounce off it, but when he looked down he saw he was heading for a sea of clouds. He slammed his hands against the wall and his fingertips made a loud screech as he slid down, and managed to grab a small ledge. Sonic and the others slammed against it and slid down but almost fell down because they didn't know the ledge was so small.

"Though I didn't have a fear of heights before, I sure have one now!" Jennifer said as she tried to stay on the ledge.

"Hug the wall, and shimmy your way across, we should find some footing that way," Mega Man said. So they shimmied their way across and did find some decent footing. Sonic, Tails and Mega Man weren't that affected, but Jennifer could barley stand.

"Um, if it makes you feel better, I've been a lot higher," Sonic said.

"What about you Mega Man?" Jennifer asked.

"Not this high where I couldn't see the ground, but close," Mega Man replied. Jennifer then slumped against the pillar.

"I doubt this guy uses parachutes," Jennifer said. But despite on how high they were, they made their way through the sky deck. It was filled with enemies and those spike balls, but what the real challenge for this area was the huge cannon they came across. They avoided its shots, and Sonic found a small rocket and blasted the cannon right in the barrel with it before it shot at him. The journey through the rest of the place was really tough; as the winds picked up speed and almost blew them off a few times. They just barely made it through an area that was tilting almost every direction. But they soon entered a room with nothing happening at all, just a plain room, not outside or nothing.

"That had better be the last of it," Jennifer moaned.

"It might be, but we better get to the bridge," Tails replied.

"But first we have to find an elevator," Sonic said. They searched the room a bit, as it was fairly big, but they found a rather odd round platform.

"I think this is it," Mega Man said. And with that they jumped onto it, and it spun around while going up. They were at the bridge now, and found Amy in front of Robotnick.

"Amy!" Sonic called. Amy called back to him. But Robotnick just laughed.

"It doesn't matter, they're too late!" he said before the metallic arm yanked the bird out of Amy's hands.

"Not the bird!" Amy yelled. The bird squeaked as Robotnick held it. But he soon let it go, and he was holding a Chaos Emerald.

"So that's why you were after that bird!" Mega Man said.

"It was inside the bird's pendent?" Amy asked.

"Be gone, all of you, this is all I really need. Gamma!" Robotnick called. Then a robotic voice spoke from behind them.

"What is your wish master Robotnick?" Gamma asked. He came up from the elevator.

"Dispose of these fools, and don't disappoint me!" Robotnick ordered as he flew towards the front of the ship.

"Jennifer, get back!" Mega Man yelled as Gamma jumped off the elevator. He was sort of made to look like Robotnick, in terms of his choice of color and body shape. But he was easy on the eyes, and he had a gun for his right hand. Gamma shot out bullets from the gun and rockets from his back. He moved fast and was hard to hit. Soon he quickly dashed for Mega Man and threw a punch at him, but Mega Man blocked it, to an extent as the force of Gamma's speed made his skid back a bit. They went for each other and both each others gun arms. They were at a standstill for awhile, until Gamma changed his grip and tossed Mega Man away. Sonic bashed him but Gamma then hit back and was about to shoot him, but Amy got in front of him.

"Don't! They're my friends!" she yelled. Gamma looked at her for a few moments, and then just stood still.

"How did you do that?" Sonic asked.

"He helped me get out of my cell, he isn't like other robots. He is similar to Mega Man almost. He can understand things," Amy replied. Mega Man figured out how Gamma was able to do his dash move, he had some thrusters on his back. Mega Man gave it a shot, and was able to copy that ability to his feet thrusters, and it wouldn't use up power whenever he used it. But then the whole place shook.

"This thing is losing altitude!" Tails yelled.

"Tails, take Amy and get out of here!" Sonic said.

"But what about you and Mega?" Amy asked.

"We'll find Robotnick and put him out of commission!" Sonic replied.

"I'm going to stay with you guys, I've come this far, I'm going to see this to the end," Jennifer said. Tails then took Amy and flew off the Egg-carrier while Gamma chose his own path.

"If we're to continue, we have to change this thing back to its original shape. There must a switch around here somewhere," Mega Man said. They soon found the switch and changed the place to the way it was. They ran back to the front of the ship with Jennifer in the lead. They came across a glass area with some sort of power flowing below. But the thing that made her stop in her tracks was the huge ugly creature standing a few feet in front of her.

"What on earth is this thing? Is it the monster from before?" she asked. Mega Man and Sonic looked at it; it had the same water skin, and green eyes. But it was a real odd shape, it was big, almost a shapeless mass. It had a mouth below the eyes, and it had a long tail at the back, it had many legs, and inside, were the Emeralds sitting above pedestal-shaped bones. Even the brain was bigger. But one bone part that was kind of freaky was the one that was sort of round and at the mouth.

"It is almost impossible, but this has got to be the same beast we fought before," Sonic replied.

"If this is what he looks like with six Emeralds in him, seven has got to be worse," Mega Man added.

"That's right, fools; he is almost invisible even though he isn't perfected yet. With six Emeralds in him, there is only one left to find. I even found his missing tail!" Robotnick said. Now that he mentioned it, the forms before the fish form; it looked like he had a little stub in the back.

"How in the world did his tail get lost in the first place?" Jennifer asked. But then she saw something floating around inside Chaos, it was a frog.

"That frog must have licked Chaos while in water form, as the tail on the frog vanished after I gave him to Chaos," Robotnick replied. At that moment a big huge purple cat showed up.

"Froggy?" he asked. He sounded rather spaced out. They also noticed he had a fishing pole.

"If he is your friend, we'll help you, when you get him, go for the Tornado 2, it isn't hard to operate, so book it when you get Froggy," Sonic replied. It only took one try and the cat got Froggy and made a break for it, but still the fact they had to fight Chaos and somehow get the Emeralds remained. Sonic tried to bash him, but bounced off, and Chaos didn't even flinch. Mega Man tried to blast, but the same affect.

"His skin is now able to resist our attacks," Mega Man said.

"Now what do we do?" Jennifer asked.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Sonic replied.

"Well, think faster!" Jennifer yelled as Chaos tried to jump on them. Jennifer then tried to use her knife because it seemed that blunt objects weren't doing the trick, but the blade didn't cut the surface.

"He's like a giant jell-o mold that can't be cut!" Jennifer called.

"There's always a chink in the armor somewhere, we just have to find it," Mega Man said.

"If we live long enough," Jennifer added. Sonic ran over to Jennifer just as Chaos opened his mouth, and the round bone thing opened up too, and a strong air current began to pull them in.

"He's trying to eat us!" Sonic yelled as he tried to outrun the pull, but he was being pulled in and could do nothing as he and Jennifer we sucked in. They avoided getting chomped by the bone, but that didn't change the fact they could barely breathe, they could barely move. But Jennifer tried her hardest to move, and managed to swim over to one of the Emeralds and tried to grab it, but suddenly she and Sonic flew out of Chaos and landed hard on the ground.

"Nice try my dear, but Chaos is not dumb," Robotnick called. Sonic and Jennifer stood up could barely focus.

"I feel light headed," Jennifer said.

"We almost ran out of air, if you didn't make a break for the Emerald, we would have died," Sonic said. They saw Chaos was going for them again, and they went to move, but their feet got frozen by a flying robot. Chaos was about to try and suck them in again, but just as the air current started, Mega Man shot one of those robots and it went right into the round bone parts and exploded. Chaos made some faces that looked like he had a hard time trying to swallow something, but he then turned into ice. Sonic broke free and quickly bashed into Chaos and the ice broke off and Chaos jumped, and shook himself vigorously.

"I think you injured him!" Jennifer called.

"Man, this battle is going to be long," Sonic said. And it was, as Chaos turned himself into a round ball and the tip of his tail grew to a rather odd shape, but fine for trying to smack them. A lot of glowing red dots appeared on Chaos, and those red dots came out with long parts of his body, they came close to impaling them a few times, but what it was really for, was to hinder their movement, as he tried a few times to swat them. He then morphed back to his other form and they repeated this a few times. One time he almost flattened Mega Man and Jennifer in one smack, but they managed to dive for cover. When Sonic applied the final blow, all of Chaos shattered, but the Emeralds were gone.

"No way, I can't believe this!" Robotnick yelled. Knuckles soon ran up.

"So there you are, Knuckles, did you find all the shard of the Master Emerald?" Sonic asked.

"Sure did, I see you figured out that was what I was doing," Knuckles replied.

"Yeah, sadly it looks like that might be the only thing to send us to that other world," Mega Man said.

"Until we meet again, Sonic!" Robotnick called as he fled.

"You're not getting away this time!" Sonic called back as he dashed for him. Mega Man quickly picked up Jennifer and dashed after him and they jumped after Sonic. Knuckles would have gone after them, but he had something take care of that he didn't quiet expect, he had to face Chaos, who was only playing possum. He managed to beat him, and get the Emeralds, and took them with him to Angel Island. Mega Man and Jennifer landed in some trees in an area of the Mystic Ruins, and found Sonic not much later.

"Do you think we're lost?" Jennifer asked.

"Don't worry, we'll find our way home," Sonic replied. They wandered around for a little bit, and found an odd glowing light, and it led them to an old temple. The top of the temple shook and it rose up and made an opening they could enter. The light went inside as if to lead them. They followed it and had to avoid many traps inside the temple, and many odd mechanics. The trip was long, and they even had to run from a boulder at one part. But after having to scale some walls by walking on some panels that were lit up, they found a big room. Water was to their left and right, so they walked down the middle and above them on the wall was a huge mural.

"What kind of thing is that?" Mega Man asked.

"I'm not sure," Jennifer replied.

"Though I've never seen it before, it feels strangely familiar," Sonic added. The mural looked like some kind of dragon-like creature, but it still felt familiar. They stared at it for so long, it almost didn't dawn on them that it wasn't there anymore.

"What happened?" Jennifer asked. It looked like a shrine area; some small creatures were lying around dead, flames lit up the place.

"Doesn't that shrine look like something we've been to?" Mega Man asked.

"You're right; it's the shrine of the Master Emerald!" Sonic replied. And he was right; there at the center of the shrine, was the Master Emerald, in its full glory. But there was someone standing at the base of the shrine. They went over to the person and saw it was a female Echidna.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" she asked. She looked back at them. "It's terrible! I have to stop this now!" she said before turning around and going up the steps.

"Hey wait!" Sonic called, but she was already at the Master Emerald and everything got bright. They found themselves outside the temple.

"What was that about?" Mega Man asked.

"I don't think we're dreaming here," Jennifer replied. Then a familiar sound was heard, old Egg-head was flying by.

"What's he doing here? Oh, never mind, this time we'll get him good!" Sonic exclaimed. They went down the path that Robotnick took and found his hideout. They entered it and found another door, but to open it that had to do a very annoying button puzzle. But they did it and entered a new area. A female voice was talking on the speaker.

"Emergency! Emergency! Dispose of any intruders!" she kept on saying. Some robots ran down the hall but soon exploded, making flames on the ground. Mega Man was unaffected as he marched through the flames, he eyes filled with anger, nothing could stop him. They made their way through the place, and after many tricky traps and jumps, they soon found Robotnick.

"Well, if it isn't my old pal, Sonic! I'm surprised you may it this far," he commented while he came out of his newest weapon. It was called the Egg-viper. It had a small laser cannon in the front, and had some lasers on the sides of the long tail, and had spinning blades on both side of the cockpit.

"Your reign of terror ends here!" Mega Man called.

"I doubt you'll be able to stop me this time!" Robotnick replied as he went into his weapon. It soon powered up and he made his way up the tall vertical room. There was a rocket they could use and they did, and they landed on one of the long horizontal platforms. The Egg-viper was in the middle of the room, floating there.

"What do you say? Shall we finish this?" Robotnick asked.

"We're about as ready as you are!" Sonic replied. And with that the Egg-viper did a dive out of view. They quickly separated, and the Egg-viper came back into view, and while it was diving again, the lasers on the tail shot at them. They were on the move so the shots missed them, but the shots were dangerously close on the mark, fire pillars would form where the shots hit. Soon all that came out the front of the Viper facing the platform they were on. Sonic bashed it just as the cockpit opened up, and sent it away. It did the tail attack again a few times before it popped up facing them again. This time it went back while the cockpit opened and energy began to form at the four corners that appeared. But Sonic was fast and with the way the tail was, it was almost touching the platform with its tip, and huge green lights were flashing, so Sonic did his homing attack on them and got to the cockpit before the energy was shot. But now Sonic was on the other platform. Things were a bit tricky as both sides of the tail shot as the Viper did its diving thing a few times. But now it added another tactic, it faced Mega Man and Jennifer, but didn't open, but it was focused on Mega Man, that he could tell. It then did a quick focus of energy, and shot a high powered beam at him; he avoided the beam, but almost got caught in the huge power blast that happened afterward. It was so huge, it almost got Jennifer too. It faced them again, but it did the thing like before, which is how Sonic made it to the other side. Jennifer quickly ran over to Mega Man and put her arms around his neck, and he quickly jumped from green light to the next while still charging his buster, and gave the cockpit a good blast when he did a dash-jump from the last light. He landed on the side with Sonic and they watched as the Viper quickly plowed through the other platform.

"Think is going to be tricky," Mega Man warned. The viper then appeared at the other end of the platform and heading right for them while shooting a few feet in front. Mega Man got nicked during that attack. Soon the Viper busted one end of the platform and the spinning blades came off with the spike point pointed down. The blades went for them one at a time while alternating. Sonic jumped onto one of them and bashed the cockpit after it went back. The Viper then busted the other end and this time the blades pointed the spike end up. Mega Man looked at Jennifer who was close to the edge behind her. Mega Man held his hands together and Jennifer knew what he wanted her to do. She quickly ran for him, and he launched her way up high, and she tossed her knife at the cockpit and the whole thing began to spark and crack.

"No way, I can't believe this!" Robotnick exclaimed as the whole thing spun out of control, and the spinning blades fell down while exploding. The viper spun like mad while going through the air back and forth.

"I think he's aiming for a last ditch effort!" Sonic warned. After a few more passes the viper rose up and did a dive for one of them, and broke part of the platform, but missed his target and plummeted downward. When it hit, a huge pillar of fire rose up and lit the whole area.

The next morning, Sonic was resting at the bottom of a palm tree near the station in the Mystic ruins. Jennifer sat on a rock while her long hair blew in the breeze, and Mega Man stood not too far with his helmet off, he had short brown hair, and a faint smile on his face, but he still had worry.

"So, is Mega Man the only name you're known as?" Jennifer asked.

"No, very few people know this, but my real name is Rock," Mega Man replied.

"Rock, that is an interesting name, but it suits you," Jennifer commented. Sonic yawned and his eyes opened.

"Well, either way, I guess Robotnick learned his lesson, now maybe I'll take another vacation somewhere," Sonic said. Soon they saw Tails running up.

"Hey Tails, did you find the Tornado 2?" Sonic asked.

"Never mind that now, Angel Island is falling again!" Tails replied.

"What? Who blew it this time?" Mega Man asked as he put on his helmet.

"I don't know, but we better hurry!" Tails replied.

"Well, at least we had a nice sit down before this," Jennifer said as they ran. They went through the cave again and ran across the grassy field and ran across the wooden bridge and saw the Master Emerald was still intact. They looked around and found Knuckles and Robonick on the ground.

"Are you alright? What happened?" Sonic asked as he ran up to Knuckles.

"After you fled the Egg-carrier, I faced Chaos and beat him, and got the Emeralds back. I brought them here to hold onto for you until you found the last one. But Chaos is still alive and stole them!" Knuckles replied as he propped himself on his hands.

"No! He can't still be alive! Not after getting shattered into pieces twice in a row!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"He's not gonna get away with this!" Robotnick said as he got up and ran for his machine.

"Guys, Chaos is a fearsome beast, if he gets that last Emerald, we're done for," Knuckles warned.

"You don't have to tell us twice, I doubt the freezing tactic will work a third time," Mega Man said. But at that moment the light that led them to the temple appeared and flew around Mega Man and Sonic and blinded them. They soon found themselves in that one area they were in after they looked at mural.

"We're back here again; maybe this isn't a dream after all!" Sonic said. They ran forward and found a whole Echidna tribe, and in front of them was the Echidna girl they saw before, it looked like she was trying to block them, and behind her were those creatures that they saw lying on the ground.

"Please, father, don't do this!" she begged. The oldest one in front was her father.

"Stand aside, Tikal, we need that Emerald's power," her father replied.

"No! It will only cause more suffering! Why must we live by the means of war and greed?" she asked.

"Enough, if you will not aide us, then you are against us! Attack!" he ordered. Mega Man and Sonic couldn't believe their eyes, the forces just plowed through things that couldn't even defend themselves, and they thought they needed force. They soon reached the Master Emerald and Chaos appeared in the form that Sonic and Mega Man saw him before he had a single Chaos Emerald inside him. Mega Man and Sonic noticed that the Chaos Emeralds were on tall pedestals around the shrine, but they disappeared, and reappeared around Chaos.

"No! It's a monster!" one of them screamed. A bright light flashed and they all screamed. After the light was gone, so were they along with Chaos.

'All this time we misunderstood…all this time…' Mega Man thought. Sonic ran over to Tikal and asked if she was alright. Most surprisingly, she replied.

"I…I think so…oh no!" Tikal exclaimed. "This is all wrong!" She then ran up the steps and stood in front of the Master Emerald.

"What is she doing?" Mega Man asked.

"The seven Emeralds are the severs, Chaos is power, enriched by the heart, the controller is the one that unifies the Chaos, you're the only one who do this, please you must stop him!" Tikal begged. The Master Emerald then shined bright, and Mega Man and Sonic found themselves back on Angel Island.

"You're both ok!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"You both just sort of conked out there for awhile," Tails added.

"I guess we were on a snooze cruise," Sonic said.

"Knuckles took off already, so the last Emerald should still be aboard the Tornado 2. We have to get going!" Tails said. They quickly ran back to the area where the station was at and took the mine cart that was next to the pond. They wandered around the forest for awhile, but they found a rather odd house at the center of a pond, and close to it was the Tornado 2.

"That big cat must live here, so he just landed it here," Jennifer said.

"Let's just grab the Emerald and leave," Sonic said. They were about halfway to it, but a pillar of water formed and knocked Tails. After the water cleared, they found a horrible discovery.

"No! He has the last Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Now what do we do?" Tails asked. Mega Man was gripped with horror and grief.

"I don't know. I really don't know," Mega Man replied. A thought came to Jennifer, and she placed a hand on her chest.

"Station Square…my home…" she slowly let out. By the time they got back, Station Square was already a horrible wreck. They stood on a piece of road that was high above the water. Jennifer covered her mouth with her hands and her eyes filled with tears.

"I didn't think this amount of damage was possible in such a short amount of time," she said. Not to far from them was Chaos, in his perfect form, he looked like the mural now.

"That mural was him alright," Mega Man said.

"If we weren't just dreaming, then that monster is a real menace," Sonic added. A sound they thought they wouldn't hear again could be heard. It was the Egg-carrier.

"I thought that thing couldn't be used again!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"The Egg-carrier 2 was made just in for the purpose that should something like this happen, you have defied your master, stupid beast!" Robotnick said darkly. He began firing at Chaos, but nothing was fazing him. He bent his head down as he opened his mouth, and energy began to form as he brought his head back up, and then shot a huge beam at the Egg-carrier, and blew it up like it was nothing and sent Robotnick flying.

"Chaos!" Mega Man called as he got closer. "It doesn't have to end like this!"

"What are you trying to do?" Jennifer asked.

"All this time, we've misunderstood him. He wasn't born to destroy us; he was born to be a protector, not a monster. I finally understand his pain, he must have met Tikal a few times before, and she must have made friends with him. So when her tribe attacked, Chaos became confused, and filled with hate, as he must have thought, not only were the ones he was trying to protect wiped out, but also someone he thought was a friend got killed by her own kind. So all this time we spent fighting him, we should have tried to understand him," Mega Man replied.

"You're right, he isn't evil on purpose, he is just confused," Sonic agreed.

"We have to try and reach him," Jennifer added. "Such pain, such loneliness that would drive anyone insane." Then at that moment, the light from before flew around a little bit.

"Oh, it's you!" Sonic said as he held out his hand, and the light rested there. "You're the one who sealed Chaos inside the Master Emerald, Tikal!" Then the light became bright, and when it faded, there she was, standing there in the flesh.

"But, how are you even still alive?" Jennifer asked.

"My heart was sealed along with Chaos. He is so alone until I came along, so were the chao, those are the creatures you saw, though it pains me, he must be stopped, or he'll destroy the world like he did before!" Tikal replied. But then the Chaos Emeralds came out of Chaos and floated around before scattering. One landed nearby and it sparked for a few minutes, and then faded into a black stone.

"Look! He has fully drained the Emerald's power; he must be sealed away now!" Tikal said as she held out her arms.

"And just how is that going to help!" Mega Man asked rather disgusted. "Have you learned nothing? Sealing him away again won't change a thing, his heart will still be in turmoil, and his anger just won't vanish, he would just be trapped for a time, until someone else sets him free, and if you think what has happened just now is bad, what do you think will happen in the future? People will get killed, and someone might not be able to stop him, sealing isn't the way to do things, though he is so called invincible, I'm going to try and reach his heart, not to kill him, but to bring back the old Chaos, his true self, not this being of hate." He then stood at the edge of the road and looked at Chaos, but he didn't appear to be in the mood for any kind of talk.

"He won't listen while he's like this, we must figure out how to change him back," Jennifer said.

"That won't be easy, we have to figure out how to neutralize the Emerald power inside him," Sonic added.

"The only way to do that would be to plow through him," Mega Man commented.

"Plow through him?" Jennifer asked.

"To channel that much power it takes a lot of concentration, so by pulling all the Emeralds power inside him, he has to focus the power to keep that form stable. Where as before he didn't need to do much when he had the Emeralds when they had power," Mega Man replied.

"You're right, when I become Super Sonic, I don't do much of anything while I'm charged, but I just need a steady supply of rings to keep the power flowing, while this guy pretty much has infinite power, so the energy isn't getting used up. So if we disrupt the power flow, he'll revert back to his normal form, and the Emerald power should return to the Emeralds themselves," Sonic added.

"It's a big gamble, but we have to take a chance," Mega Man said.

"I don't think I'll be much help on this one," Jennifer said.

"If we fail on this, the world may as well end here," Mega Man commented. But then Jennifer handed Sonic the Emerald that was on the ground.

"Think of this as a good-luck charm," she said with a smile. But then Amy ran over and handed Sonic another Emerald.

"Here Sonic, use this," she said. Soon Tails and the big cat, whom Tails found out his name _was_ Big, along with Knuckles brought the rest of the Emeralds. Knuckles surprisingly held the most.

"If you become Super Sonic, you might stand a better chance," Tails said.

"But how can he become Super if the Emeralds have no power?" Tikal asked. Mega Man then held one of the Emeralds and a smile came across his face.

"Negative and positive output," Mega Man replied.

"Right, Chaos only drained the negative power of the Emeralds, but positive feelings can make them work," Tails added. Mega Man quickly handed Sonic back the Emerald.

"Why don't we show Chaos what the true power of the Emeralds is?" Mega Man asked.

"My thoughts exactly," Sonic replied. Soon they all cheered Sonic and the Emeralds began to glow. Soon Sonic was enveloped in a bright light, and when it cleared, he was glowing bright yellow.

"I'll do what I can to distract Chaos, you head for where the water is swirling around him, and try to ram him fast enough to reach his head," Mega Man said.

"The fate of the world rests on us, let's give it our all!" Sonic said before they went into action. Mega Man jumped arcos the rooftops while Sonic flew across the surface of the water. Mega Man got Chaos's attention when he shot a few shot at him.

"That's right big guy, look at me," Mega Man said. Many balls of light formed inside Chaos and they rose to his mouth, so when he opened it, the energy balls shot out and went right for Mega Man. Mega Man barley avoided them as to how huge they were. Chaos did a quick glance with his eyes and saw Sonic coming right for him, but he couldn't do anything as Sonic was moving fast and plowed right into him and swirled all the way up his body to his head and bashed the brain and Chaos dissipated. He soon reappeared at the other end of town.

"GAH! I can't make it through all those buildings of ruble! Mega, you have to keep his busy until I get there!" Sonic called. Mega Man had an advantage as he could make huge jumps now with his dash ability so he made it over to Chaos in a few seconds flat, but while on his way over, and during the rest of the fight, he felt like he was being watched. And at possibly the highest point in the city, was the armored figure from before.

"I have to make sure, I want you to show me the power you have, the power to destroy even the gods!" he said. Mega Man faced Chaos again, but this time he tried to talk to him.

"Chaos, if you can understand me, I don't want it to end like this, thing is wrong, you weren't born for this!" Mega Man called. Chaos just shot at him again, but Mega Man continued.

"Come on Chaos, I know the old you is in there, you just have to bring him out. Don't let that anger inside rule over you!" But Chaos shot at him again.

"I realize it was a mistake to fight you, I'm will to forgive for the things you done the past few days, but you have to forgive yourself, as well as the world." Chaos paused for awhile, before attacking again, and he didn't see Sonic coming this time.

"I think I'm beginning to reach him, he paused after my last statement," Mega Man called.

"So we're both making progress," Sonic called back.

'I hope I can end this without it ending with bloodshed,' Mega Man thought. They repeated the tactic a few times, and Chaos got a little harder to hit as he knew Sonic was coming and focused his attacks on him. The last time Sonic wasn't at full speed when he plowed into Chaos, so he didn't reach the head. But Chaos went under the water, and resurfaced where the others were at. Chaos then began to power his beam attack as Mega Man made his way over, who was only attacking with small shots the entire time. Because he had Tails alter his buster, so he could shoot small shots while charging his charge shot. Mega Man made it and just fired a fully focused beam just as Chaos fired his beam. Both beams were huge, but Chaos's wasn't going to run out unlike Mega Man's if Sonic didn't make it. Soon Mega Man's beam began to whither and the force from Chaos's attack began to push him back a little. But Sonic plowed into Chaos just in a nick of time and Chaos dissipated in a huge amount of energy and knocked the chunk of road that they were on into the water, but it floated.

"If Chaos didn't fire when he did, Mega Man would have killed him," the armored figure said before vanishing while laughing. Mega Man shook his head vigorously as he got on one knee. He looked up and there was Chaos, in his normal form. He walked over and held out his hand, and Mega Man took it, and he helped him up.

"Chaos…he's normal again," Jennifer said as she propped herself up.

"Just as we thought and it had an even better affect, Super Sonic disrupted the flow of Emerald power and also neutralized all that negative energy inside Chaos, so he's nice again," Tails said. Jennifer then felt something touching her arm, she looked and there was a creature she saw in that dream before, and a whole mess of them were heading for Chaos while making happy sounding noises.

"These are the creatures we saw before in that dream…but I thought they got wiped out," Jennifer said. Chaos looked at them, and he looked happy. Tikal then showed up.

"These are the Chao you were protecting," she said. "They have survived all these years and have lived peacefully with humans," Chaos then looked at Mega Man, then at Sonic, then the others.

"Thank you. I became lost, and you showed me the way and brought me back," he said.

"You can talk?" Jennifer asked.

"I had no reason to talk before," Chaos replied.

"The fighting's over, harmony is restored, and life goes on," Tikal said.

"You have all done a great service for humanity," Chaos added. "Mega Man, don't you ever lose faith in humanity, for that is what you fight for, you fight for those who haven't forsaken their humanity. You don't just fight for a certain group or race, you are a true hero." Those words were etched into Mega Man's head, and he reflected on those words. Tikal then held her hand out to Chaos, and they both rose into the sky until they vanished into the light. Sonic and Mega Man looked around and saw Robotnick leave; he somehow watched the whole thing.

"Well, another day, another problem solved," Tails said.

"True, we managed to save the world from being destroyed and saved a being from his own darkness, but there is still the other problem at hand," Mega Man said.

"You're right, Knuckles, we need to get to Angel Island," Sonic asked. Soon Knuckles took them both to Angel Island and to the Master Emerald.

"Knuckles, you might want to be another area," Mega Man said. Knuckles left but where he could still see what is going on. Sonic and Mega Man placed the Chaos Emeralds around the Master Emerald and stood on either side of it.

"The Seven Emeralds are the servers, Chaos is power, Enriched by the heart, the controller is the one that unifies the Chaos, only the eight of you can do this, send us to the world of the one who summoned us!" Mega Man said. And with that they were both enveloped in a bright multiple colored light, and they were gone.

End Chapter 8


	9. The Beginning of a New Darkness

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 9

The Beginning of a New Darkness

The battle against the creature known as Chaos was won, and a new battle was about to begin. Meanwhile, many light-years from Mega Man's planet, the events to bring about a terrible war for him to face has been set into motion. Everything was dark, no feeling or sound, but soon something could be felt, something could be heard. Things started out fuzzy, but they quickly began to clear, a new being that was female had been born. She could hear words being spoken, but they sounded distant, and they didn't make sense, nor did the feeling around her body, or the fact why wasn't the feeling around her mouth. What she could see for the moment was things that were small and round that would rise past her line of sight. Past those things she could see patches of white here and there, and the words seemed to be coming from them. Her vision soon fully cleared and she saw people in lab coats, doing various things. She soon realized she was in some kind of containment device, and something was covering her mouth, which allowed her to breathe. She looked at her hands and saw they were a blue color, she looked at the rest of her body and saw all of her was blue, a light blue, and the clothes she was wearing were a dark blue. Her outfit looked like a one piece swimsuit. Even her hair was blue, but the only thing that wasn't blue was her eyes, they were a shade of red. She saw the people look at her and they talked while some of them were doing something with the things around them.

'Are they talking about me?' she asked in her head. Soon the thing she was in made a loud noise and the water began to drain. She wasn't used to the pull of gravity so when the water was low enough she slowly dropped to her knees. Soon the see-through of the thing she was in rose up and the people walked over to her and placed a huge cloth on her. They helped her stand up and walked her over to a chair and she sat in it. She understood some of what they were saying, but most didn't make sense. But soon they went silent to see what she would do.

"Who am I? What am I? How did I get here?" she asked.

"You are a new type of breed; you are the first step to human evolution," one of the scientists replied.

"A new breed?" she asked.

"I know this must be a whole lot to take in for just being in the world for a few minutes," a young scientist replied.

"How you came into existence is because we mixed various parts of D.N.A. which is why I'm sure you've already deduced why you look similar yet so different from us," another said.

"Just how different from you am I?" she asked.

"Other than skin, you ears," the young one replied.

"My ears?" she asked as she felt her ears, they were long and stuck straight up. "Am I the only one like this?"

"Yeah, but there will be others like you, but I hate to say it, you only have about four years lifetime," the older one replied.

"Four years?" she asked.

"You are the first one we made, but we have to yet to perfect a lot of details, but rest assured, you will help us in our journey, to help us preserve humanity," the younger one replied.

"To preserve humanity…" she said.

A loud thunder crack sounded many light-years away, over a grassy field being blown in the breeze. Some where on that field, was Mega Man lying face first on the grass. The rain was hitting his body lightly. He then slowly staggered to his feet, he looked around trying to find Sonic, and he wasn't that far away from him.

"Man, warping to another world sure takes it out of you," Sonic said as he got to his feet.

"Just when and where are we?" Mega Man asked. They heard the sound of a horse galloping very close by, and they looked, and saw a figure with a cape riding a horse to what appeared to be some kind of H.Q.

"Whoa, ancient medieval," Sonic commented. The place did look like it was ancient times. Soon the front gate quickly opened, and closed just as quickly when the horse was in.

"Let's have a closer look," Mega Man said. They quickly ran over to the side of place, and managed to get over the wall. From the spot they were at they were able to see the guy on the horse get off and quickly ran over to the person who was likely in charge.

"What is the status?" he asked.

"Word has spread fast, we have to move the princess quickly before a whole mob is here, if they aren't halfway here already," the one who just arrived replied.

"You here that? They kidnapped a princess!" Sonic said.

"She might be the one that called us before, so come on, let's see what we can find," Mega Man said. So they quickly went about searching around the place, and found an area that went underground. They carefully looked around every room so as not to get caught, and they soon found a dungeon area. They walked past many empty cells, until a voice boomed, "And just where do the two of you think you are going?"

It was a guy in huge bulky armor, and he had a really huge mace on a really long chain. The helmet of the armor obscured the guys face, but he had red slits for eyes, and he looked mad.

"We're filling out prescriptions for bulky armor magazine, would you like to subscribe?" Sonic asked. The red slits quickly put on a look of major confusion, and Sonic quickly bashed the guy in the face and he hit the ground with a loud clang. Mega Man quickly felt around in his armor and found a key. They ran down the hall which twisted and turned for a bit, until they came across the last cell, and inside was a young girl with long blond hair. She wore a blue and white dress, and was kneeling in front of her bed praying, they even noticed she had long ears like an elf. She did a quick glance at them, and they saw her gentle blue eyes. She then went back to praying, but then her eyes fully opened and she stared at them.

"You aren't one of the ones to take me to another place are you?" she asked. Her voice didn't sound like the one that spoke to them before. Mega Man quickly unlocked the door and walked in.

"Don't be afraid, we're not with the enemy," Mega Man replied.

"So let's book!" Sonic added. He then looked down the hall and could hear the sound of metal clanging with long pauses. "Mister angry mace wants some payback."

"You best wait here," Mega Man said as he ran out of the cell just as the guy with the mace rounded the corner.

"I'll give you to the count of three to surrender," he said.

"Give it your best shot, it will be your only one," Mega Man replied.

"You asked for it," the guy said. "One." He dropped the ball onto the floor with a loud clang. "Two." He then began to spin the ball around. "Three!" He then threw his arm forward and the ball sailed at them. Sonic just sidestepped and Mega Man just ducked. Mega Man then grabbed the chain, and the guy pulled hard, but Mega Man didn't even move. He tugged a few more times, and the princess couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"What kind of monster are you?" the guy called. Mega Man just gave a hard tug on the chain and the guy sailed right for him, he then held out his fist, and hit the guy's face right smack in the middle and knocked him clean out.

"Just what are you? A normal person couldn't do that," she said.

"I'm not exactly normal," Mega Man replied as he dropped the chain. They quickly ran out of the cell area, but they heard the others coming, but they quickly ducked into a storage room, and they gave them the slip, but guards were still blocking the exit.

"It won't be long before they find us," the girl said. Mega Man did some thinking, and a few moments later the guards didn't find a thing in the room, because Mega Man managed to use his buster to put a hole in the wall and they just placed some boxes in front of it. It was a little tricky, but they managed to escape the place without being seen. It was still storming, but they made their way to a forest and rested. After a few minutes of silence, the princess calmed down.

"I guess you really aren't with the enemy," she said.

"We were never introduced, I'm Mega Man."

"And I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I am Princess Zelda; it is a pleasure to meet you, and thank you for rescuing me," Zelda said.

"So what exactly is the entire thing about?" Sonic asked.

"This land is called Hyrule, it has seen its times of peace and war, but the wars are always caused by one man, Ganondorf," Zelda replied.

"Who is this Ganondorf?" Mega Man asked.

"He is an evil man, he has almost plunged this land into darkness more than once, all because he got his hands on the Triforce of Power," Zelda replied.

"The Triforce of Power?" Sonic asked.

"Long ago, three ancient goddesses created this land, and when they left, they left behind three Triforce fragments, Wisdom, Courage, and Power," Zelda replied. "Ganondorf has tried on more than one occasion to try and get his hands on the other two fragments, but he was always stopped by a hero dressed in green."

"Dressed in green, huh?" Mega Man asked.

"The hero always has the Triforce of Courage, while my family always has the Triforce of Wisdom," Zelda added.

"So we should find this hero and try and stop old Ganondorf, huh?" Sonic asked.

"It will undoubtedly be a long journey," Zelda replied.

"So was the one to get here, don't worry, once we face Ganondorf, we'll put a stop to him for good," Mega Man said. They wandered around the forest for awhile, and rested for the night in a dry patch that was well hidden. Morning soon came, and they awoke to the sound of hoof beats.

"Sounds like a single horse," Sonic whispered.

"A lone rider?" Zelda asked as she peeked over the bushes to try and get a better look. She gasped and quickly ducked down.

"One of Ganondorf's men?" Mega Man asked as he peeked over.

"Worse than that, that's Malakie," Zelda replied.

"Malakie?" Sonic asked as he peeked too. There was a fully armored figure riding a partially armored horse. The armor on Malakie was huge an bulky, his helmet obscured his face, and it had horns, his shoulder pads stuck out and looked sharp, and he wore a long black cape. He had red slits where the eyes were, and his horse was black, and it also had red slit eyes. He was headed to their right.

"He certainly looks menacing," Mega Man commented.

"What does this Malakie do?" Sonic asked.

"He is far worse then Ganondorf on certain terms, while Ganondorf commands a whole army, Malakie is a lone wolf, but no one has been able to beat him, not even our forces and Ganondorf's forces combined!" Zelda replied.

"Defiantly a guy we want to avoid," Mega Man said.

"Think he can kill Ganondorf?" Sonic asked.

"Probably," Zelda replied. Sonic gulped. "I think we're in over our heads on this one."

"That maybe be true, but we got ourselves into this, and there doesn't seem to be a way out yet," Mega Man replied.

"You don't intend to fight him, do you?" Zelda asked rather shocked.

"Not yet anyway, we need to know more about this guy, then we can figure out a plan," Mega Man replied.

"If we had the Chaos Emeralds, I could beat him in a few seconds," Sonic added.

"Chaos Emeralds?" Zelda asked.

"Long story, but they're what we used to get here, someone called us telepathically," Mega Man replied.

"A telepathic?" Zelda asked.

"You know something about this?" Sonic asked.

"Telepaths are very rare, some of them were in my lineage," Zelda replied.

"So you're a telepath?" Mega Man asked.

"Kind of, I don't know how to use my power fully though," Zelda replied.

"Wait, if she's sort of a beginner, then who and where is the one that called us?" Sonic asked.

"To be quiet honest, I don't know," Mega Man replied. Sonic took a quick peek over the bushes again, Malakie was gone.

"It might be safe if we took the path he came from," Sonic suggested.

"It is the only option that has more of a guarantee that we won't cross paths with Malakie yet," Mega Man agreed.

"I would rather head the opposite direction from him anyway," Zelda added. "It also increases the space between us faster, too." And with that they walked down the road away from the path that Malakie took. They walked down the path for hours, and not a single sign of life other than the wildlife.

"So what is your lineage anyway?" Sonic asked.

"I'm of royal blood; the royal family has ruled Hyrule for many long years," Zelda replied.

"What exactly started this whole thing that lasted for so long?" Mega Man asked.

"Many years ago, back way before the Royal family even started, the one that became the very first king found the Triforce when it was whole, and when he touched it, he was granted all their power, as his heart was perfectly balanced. After he passed away, his son touched the Triforce, but it scattered because his heart wasn't balanced like his father's. He thought the princess Zelda of that time knew something, and threatened her with eternal slumber, but she knew nothing, and was put to sleep. Sometime later the Triforce was gathered and placed inside a temple called the Temple of Time. After that Zelda was put to sleep, all of the princesses of the Royal family were named after her, but where she rests now, no one knows," Zelda replied. "But a few years after the Triforce was placed in the temple, Ganondorf, the King of Thieves sought to steal the Triforce, but when he touched it, he only got the Triforce of Power, while the Triforce of Wisdom was placed in the princess, and the Triforce of Courage was placed in the hero who wears green. Many heroes came and went, but they always restored the peace, you must find him and aid him in his quest to save Hyrule!"

"No problem, we'll help this guy out, and try to find where the first Zelda sleeps," Sonic replied.

"But how will you find her?" Zelda asked.

"It will take some doing, and call it a crazy hunch, but I think she's the one that called us," Mega Man replied.

"Huh? How cloud she call us if she is asleep?" Sonic asked.

"She is a telepath, and what she told me before I got to your world helps prove my hunch," Mega Man replied.

"What did she say?" Zelda asked.

"She said her world will be in danger soon, and she will be hunted, and won't be able to protect herself," Mega Man replied.

"But how do we know if she is even that Zelda?" Sonic asked.

"I…am that Zelda…" the voice from before spoke.

"What's wrong? You're stressing again," Mega Man said.

"…It is the Dark Power that is rising, it is…taking over the void I'm in…it makes it very hard to focus before…my nightmares start again," she replied. "Please…you must help me! AHHHH!!!"

"Zelda? Zelda!" Mega Man called.

"Lord this thing is worse than we thought," Sonic said.

"Who would have thought that she was in another void," Zelda said.

"The sooner we find this guy, the sooner we can try and help her," Mega Man said. After wandering for awhile, they came across a place called Kakariko Village. Many people soon went running allover the place once they saw them, while saying stuff like, "The princess has returned!" "Two heroes have saved the princess!" or something along those lines. Soon one of the villagers managed to get over to them, and led them to an old monastery. It all happened rather fast, so none of them knew what was going on. But inside the monastery was a wise-looking man.

"These are the two that brought the princess back to us," the villager said.

"So I see, this bodes rather well," the old man said.

"How so?" Sonic asked.

"It was prophesized many years ago that after the land of Hyrule fell into darkness so many times, two more heroes would show up in its darkest hour," the old man replied. "And also taking into account the new evil one that has been doing damage to both sides recently." Mega Man pondered this for a few moments.

"So what you're saying is that we're fulfilling an old prophecy?" he asked.

"I've heard of this prophecy, and as a matter of fact, it was one of my ancestors that foretold it," Zelda replied. Mega Man quickly gave a hand gesture to Sonic, and he followed him to a quiet corner. Zelda could hear them talking, but couldn't make out any of the words, but they soon walked back.

"We have decided to try and find the descendant of the hero clan, and also figure that you should be safe here," Mega Man said.

"You think I should stay here?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah, the castle will be the first place to look. So you, the guy that brought us here, go around and tell the people to act like they did before, as if nothing happened, got it?" Sonic asked. The villager nodded and quickly ran out the door. Mega Man and Sonic soon left the town in search of this hero, and to team up with him. They wandered the fields for the longest time, and came across a few abandoned battle fields, with a whole mess of bodies from both sides.

"This must be the work of Malakie," Mega Man commented.

"I've never seen so many dead bodies like this, the amount is almost unbelievable," Sonic said.

"This is what happens when someone of great power comes and kills everyone on both sides, so there is none left to bury the dead," Mega Man replied. "And this isn't my first time seeing bodies like this."

He could remember running passed dead bodies is the past, but he couldn't remember if he was the one that killed them, but he then remembered those that he did kill some of them, he remembered how insane they looked, how they acted, how they spoke, they didn't act human, but they were human none the less, living, breathing humans that he killed with his own hands. Somehow he knew that black mass he saw was somehow connected to the whole thing; he just couldn't remember the details.

"Were you a soldier once?" Sonic asked. The question somehow brought back a tiny bit of memory, and cleared up some of the sketchy stuff about that battle he fought.

"I was a guard for a princess once," Mega Man replied. More memories kicked in. "I once served as one of the royal guard for a king also, but that kingdom must be long gone now, as is the Moon kingdom." Sonic blinked blankly a few times.

"The _Moon_ kingdom?" he asked.

"Not the moon from my world, but a moon for another earth," Mega Man replied.

"You mean there are multiple earths and multiple moons?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, once we're done here, and when I get back to my world, I have some important business to attend to," Mega Man replied. They continued on for many hours, until they heard the sound of hoof beats. They ducked behind some rocks, and peeked over when the sound stopped. There was a beautiful red horse with white hair, and riding it was a man dressed in a green tunic, white undershirt, white pants, brown boots and gloves, and a green hat that pointed down. He had blue eyes and reddish-brown hair. He also had a sword and shield strapped to his back.

"He must be the hero we're looking for," Sonic commented. But at that moment, the man looked at them and yelled, "Who's over there? Come out where I can see you!" They quickly came out and held out their hands.

"Easy there pal, we were looking for you," Mega Man replied.

"You were looking for me, why?" the man asked.

"So we can save Hyrule together," Sonic replied.

"So the ancient prophecy is coming true," the man commented.

"Well, now that we're on the same page, I'm Mega Man.

"And I'm Sonic the Hedgehog,"

"And I'm Link, nice to meet you," Link said. "Oh, and this is my horse, Epona,"

"She sure is a pretty horse," Sonic commented.

"How well do you know of this place? You seem greatly out of place," Link commented.

"We've managed to rescue the princess Zelda yesterday, and we've heard of the prophecy about two new warriors coming to Hyrule," Sonic replied.

"Is that all?" Link asked.

"All that we could gather and we even saw Malakie," Mega Man replied.

"So you are aware that Malakie is the new evil then?" Link asked.

"We've heard almost every detail there is about this place, even Ganondorf," Sonic replied.

"There is one other important detail; the two new heroes, they're supposed to be from other worlds, and you are from other worlds, right?" Link asked.

"Sure are," Mega Man replied.

"Then all is going as prophesized then," Link said. But at that moment, the area began to get foggy.

"Where did this fog come from?" Sonic asked.

"Something doesn't feel right," Link replied. Mega Man did a quick turn around and saw an armored figure almost right in front of him. But the figure then vanished.

"Someone that is able to teleport is here!" Mega Man warned. The figured popped in and out here and there and they saw it, and the last few times it was letting out a rather odd sounding laugh, and the fog soon lifted.

"That was freaky," Sonic commented.

"That presence, it was the same one that I felt while we fought Chaos in the city," Mega Man said. "But this time it was more pronounced. Did you feel a chill as cold as death?"

"Yeah, freaky," Link replied.

"I thought I felt something odd while we fought Chaos that last time," Sonic added. They went back to the village, and went to the elder. After filling them in on what just happened, they all thought very hard.

"We've never seen anything like that at all," Zelda replied.

"It could have been a ghost that died on that battlefield," the old man said. But Mega Man wasn't quiet convinced, but if they didn't encounter that during the rest of the trip, then that might have been the case.

"So where should we go?" Sonic asked.

"Why don't you investigate the area where I was held before?" Zelda suggested.

"That sounds like a plan, and if we don't find anything, we'll go to where Malakie went," Mega Man added. They went back to the area where they rescued Zelda, and found the place she was held at was abandoned.

"This place was jumping when we first came here," Sonic commented. But they soon found some dead bodies scattered here and there. They took peek back outside and found some bodies out there too.

"Think Malakie came here?" Sonic asked.

"Good possibility," Link replied. They wandered around the place for awhile, and came across a map that had a mark in one spot. They took the map and went to where Malakie went. They came across a fairly big town, but the town's people were a bit spooked.

"What happened here?" Link asked.

"Not sure," Mega Man replied. They managed to call a female villager and she came over.

"What happened here?" Sonic asked.

"The evil knight came through here, but even though he didn't do anything, he always comes back," the girl replied.

"Then you better get everyone to Kakariko village," Link said. The girl gave a quick nod, but when she turned around, she froze. They looked past her and saw Malakie.

"Malakie!" Mega Man yelled. He was still on his horse, and he rode over to them slowly.

"So you are the three that are going to try and save this land?" he asked.

"What's it to ya?" Sonic asked.

"I plan to rule this land. And the worlds beyond," Malakie replied.

"And just how do you plan to do that?" Mega Man asked.

"Once I gain control over this land, and kill Ganondorf and take the Triforce of Power from his body. I'll have the means to rule the world, but before I can do that, I must gather the pieces of the gate that leads to the realm where the original Zelda slumbers," Malakie replied. "But I have to find out where to begin; perhaps that girl can tell me where to start?" And with that the girl turned around and bolted past the others. But Malakie's horse bolted right for her and knocked the heroes aside. Sonic quickly gathered himself just as Malakie scooped up the girl. The horse was insanely fast, but Sonic managed to catch up and bash Malakie in the back of the head, making him lose his grip on the girl and she fell off, but didn't get injured. Malakie glared as Sonic quickly picked her up and ran back for the town.

"Very well, the first piece shall be yours," he said. Sonic soon skidded to a halt and set the girl down.

"Thank you, it is true, I do know where the first piece is, I have it," she said.

"You have it?" Link asked.

"It was passed down through my family for years, but we never knew what it was for, and now this, I now know what it is for, so please take it and save our world," the girl replied. She left them for a few minutes, and she soon came back with a rather big chunk.

"It does look like it was part of a gate of some kind," Sonic commented. She handed it over to Link. It wasn't heavy at all, just a little awkward due to its shape.

"The place to set the pieces of the gate is a few miles past our town, you can't miss it," the girl said.

"What makes you so sure that is where it belongs?" Mega Man asked.

"Because it is an old ruin that has been there for many long years, but we never knew what it was for, now it is clear," the girl replied. They took her word for it and followed her directions. After a few miles, they soon found the old ruin, it did look like a rather huge gate, but it looked like a wreck. Link held out the piece he had, and everything glowed. Many of the chunks that were lying all over the place rose up and they all gather and formed what they could of the gate along with the new piece.

"Where do you think the next piece is?" Sonic asked.

"That I have no clue," Link replied. But then the area shook violently and something rose in the distance. They went in that direction, and found a huge temple entrance. It rose up from the ground after they placed the gate piece.

"It sure is dark in there," Sonic commented.

"Maybe so, but we have to find the next piece of the gate," Link said as he drew his sword and shield. They marched down the stone steps into the ruin, and went far below the ground as the stairs were long. Once they reached bottom the place was lit by torches.

"Who lit these?" Mega Man asked.

"It is a form of magic, they never go out unless someone blows them out," Link replied. There were many pillars and stone statues, and murals on the walls. There were also many bone piles scattered on the floor, along with a few weapons. Mega Man looked around and found a sword that seemed like new. They walked for a few minutes, and Sonic couldn't shake a feeling he had.

"I think we're being watched," he warned. Then some of the bone piles floated into the air and the bones spun around in circles until they reformed into skeletons. They wore some small parts of armor, and they were armed with sword and shields. Run ran for Link, but he bashed it in the face with his shield and slashed at him afterwards and Sonic jumped and did his bash attack on some of them. Mega Man shot a few and ducked one's swing and quickly slashed his head off.

"Those bone heads weren't so tough," Sonic commented.

"True, but there might be worse enemies deeper inside," Link warned. They walked through a few rooms, and one of them has huge suits of armor.

"How huge do you have to be to fit into those things?" Mega Man asked. The suits were indeed really huge and towered over ten feet tall. Even the weapons they held were insanely huge, too. They were about to leave the room, but a huge stone-door slammed down and sealed them in, and the suits began to shake and vibrate.

"Possessed suits of armor, that must take some powerful magic," Mega Man commented.

"Well, you may have heard the old saying, the bigger they are the harder they fall, but in this case of the harder they fall, means they are harder to knock down," Sonic said. Link ran over to one of them and hit it a few times with his sword, but only got clanging sounds, and didn't even leave any scratch marks.

"This armor sure is tough, I think they are being controlled," Link said. Sonic tried to bash one right in the head, but he hurt his knee as that was what struck.

"If it's that tough, then it must be too heavy for a normal person, so it must be controlled as you say," Sonic said as he hopped on one foot. Mega Man tried a charged shot, but almost got creamed by his own blast as it reflected back at him.

"Magic resilient armor, these suits must have been made for a really major war," Link said.

"That wasn't magic I shot, but it must reflect any form of energy, we have to try and find what is controlling these guys," Mega Man said. They looked around the room while defending themselves, and soon saw glowing gems on the ceiling.

"Mega Man, those gems above us, I think they are the source!" Link called. Mega Man shot one of them, and the suit that was about to hit Sonic fell to pieces.

"Each gem controls each suit of armor!" Sonic called. After Mega Man took out another gem, they began to focus their attacks on him. He barely avoided being slashed to pieces; he knew he now owed Gamma for the dash upgrade, because that would have been it for sure. Because there were so many of them, Mega Man couldn't shoot another gem. But Sonic got an idea.

"Hey Mega, let's do the soccer special!" Sonic called.

"That might work, get ready!" Mega Man called back. Sonic curled up and Mega Man ran over to him and kicked him hard and Sonic bounced off the walls ceiling and the suits of armor as insane speeds, and managed to nail the gems in the process. He even plowed through some of the suits after he smashed some gems. Mega Man soon took out the rest of the gems and the stone-door opened and they continued. They came across a few puzzles that needed to be solved, but they managed to press on. Soon they entered a huge room that had a huge dragon statue in the middle. There was a long path that led to huge box that was colored blue and yellow and looked very fancy. They went over to it, but it wouldn't open, so they went back and found another door, and inside they found a fancy looking key. They reentered the room and were about to cross the bridge, but then a magic barrier formed and blocked them off. They looked back and the statue began to shake and the stone fell of to reveal a live dragon. It looked at them for a few seconds, and then shot fire at them. They dodged with ease, but Link then had to do a back-flip to avoid getting smashed by one of its claws.

"I've read somewhere that most dragons are vulnerable underneath," Sonic called.

"Soft underbellies, eh?" Link asked. Mega Man put this to the test and did his famous slide under the dragon and shot it as he slid. The dragon roared with each shot, and blood came out of each wound.

"Hey, Link, I think a good sword thrust up to the head ought to bring him down!" Mega Man called.

"But where should I thrust at?" Link asked.

"Try the base of the neck!" Sonic called.

"It'll be a one in a million shot, we should weaken him first," Link replied. The dragon then twisted its head around to try and bite Sonic, but he dove away just as it clamped its jaws. It then tried to smash Mega Man into the wall with its tail, but Mega Man just jumped it in a nick of time, and retaliated with a charged shot at the neck. By landing this hit, it made it hard for the dragon to breathe fire, as it would sputter out of the wound for a few seconds before it could shoot out a flame. After avoiding the dragon's attacks for a few minutes, Link managed to plunge his sword into the dragon's throat, which then resulted in the dragon going crazy for a few minutes before collapsing. The barrier that blocked their path before had vanished, and they went over to the chest and unlocked it, and inside was a piece of the gate. Mega Man picked up the piece and they made their way out of the dungeon. After they took the piece to the gate, everything flew around again before setting back into place, and showing a light to where they have to go next.

"We should get you a horse," Link commented.

"That would make it easier," Mega Man agreed.

"I don't have to worry, I can keep up with you guys easy," Sonic added. They saw a ranch on the way over before they placed the first piece, so they began to head over that way.

Time was flowing a bit fast in Mega Man's world, and inside the lab many light years away, where the new humanoid was born, utter chaos was about to ensue.

"Are you mad?" a scientist asked rather angry and a little baffled.

"I know how you guys feel about this, but the project is too risky, and is thus considered a failure. Every bit of the project must be destroyed," an older man replied.

"But not all of the projects are risks! Do you not understand the fact that we have made a breakthrough a few months ago?" the scientist asked.

"You mean the Neitype research? What do we need that for anymore? With Climate Control, we can control the weather, as well as the environment," the man replied.

"The Climate Control tower may have been a breakthrough too, but how long do you think technology will last?"

"We have lasted longer with technology, and with Mother Brain in control, we can last even longer."

"Living by the will of a machine is utter madness! Do you realize just how much trouble that thing can cause in the future?"

"You're simply worrying to much."

"Humanity could be on the brink of destruction, and _you're_ telling me I'm worrying to much?"

"We were on the brink of destruction before, and we're still here."

"But how many times can we avoid it?"

"I was hoping you would be more cooperative, but I see we will have to take care of this the hard way." In one of the distant rooms was the humanoid, now called the Numan race. She was sitting there holding her head, she had heard a little of what they were saying, she heard on how she was no longer needed. Her emotions were getting all mixed up. She was filled with fear and hate.

'I was told I was the hope of humanity, and now this thing called Climate Control is the new hope? Why is this happening?' her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of explosions outside the room. The door soon swung opened and there was a soldier dressed in full armor with a helmet that covered his face, and he held a plasma rifle. He pointed at her, but paused. They looked at each other for a few moments. She couldn't even see his eyes, she wasn't even sure he had eyes; to her, he was some creature she had never seen before, she figured the only spot where he could see from was the black visor.

"Are you of the Neitype research?" he asked.

"Why are you doing this? This is my home, why?" she asked. Her question needed to be answered more than his, but he had no idea what to say, but the man from before came up from behind.

"What are you doing?"

"Sir, I found the subject of the Neitype research, she…"

"She? I told you to destroy everything in this lab!"

"But she isn't like the other…"

"An experiment is an experiment."

"That may be true for the Bio monsters, but she is different, she has emotions. I think we better stop what we're doing before we cause a major disaster."

"I hired you shoot, not to think and ask questions, now finish it."

"Now I see why that scientist you shot disliked you with a passion. All you think about are orders."

"If that's the way you feel about it," the man then pulled out his plasma rifle and shot the soldier.

"Then you're on their side." He then turned he eyes to the girl, she was staring at the body of the soldier he just shot, and her eyes were filled with tears. He pointed at her, and then slowly began to pull the trigger, but before he even pulled it halfway, the girl glared at him, and her eyes became pure red. The man paused in shock, and it cost him dearly, the girl sprang forward and kicked him back as she scooped up the soldier's gun and shot him as he fell. He was still alive; she tossed the gun and ran for him as he pulled out his beam sword. He turned it on and slashed her, but she grabbed him arm and snapped it, she looked over and saw some of the bio monsters heading for the way out.

"Here, he is the cause of our suffering!" she called as she tossed him towards them. They were over him in a second. She picked up the beam sword and ran for the rest of the soldiers as she turned it on and yelled. Many of them fired at her but missed, and she slashed them to pieces. Some of them pulled out some knives and ran for her, she cut most of them down, but the last one lunged at her and almost stabbed her, but she grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm and snapped it. He screamed loudly before she slashed his face. She looked around the room, the place was in flames, and sparks were coming from various devices. The bodies of the scientists littered the floor long with the soldiers. Many of them she knew. He eyes returned to normal, and she put away the blade. She then saw a scientist was still alive, it was the one she first talked to, and the one that argued with the man she fed to the Bio Monsters. She walked over to him, and knew he was as good as gone. He managed to look up at her, and saw the blood on her hands, and the small streak of the blood across her face. She looked sad and confused.

"Why? Why was I lied to? You told me I was the hope of humanity, and yet this device called Climate Control is the hope, why?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry…I couldn't make them…understand the purpose of the project…to understand you, and how you're our true hope, but now they've destroyed that hope."

"By destroying the technology here?"

"Not just the technology, but the data as well, the data that would allow your kind, to live as long as us, to be able, to fully love, to bring children into the world."

"I can't do any of that?"

"You are the very first of the Neitype research, we knew we couldn't get everything right the first time, but with more tests and time, we could have made your kind like us."

"So I really am alone then." She then thought for a moment.

"Was it to early to make me look like other humans?"

"It was, you're D.N.A. structure is a tiny bit more Bi Monster, which is why your skin is blue, but the ears will always be pointed, as one of the dominant features of the Musk Cat is their keen hearing."

"What should I do now?"

"Perhaps you can continue the project, see if you can find some of the people that left the project, they maybe able to help. But, it will be tough, as you are similar yet so different from us." Soon his life faded away, all would be silent if it wasn't for the sparks and flames. She left the lab and into the night. She then called herself Neifirst. As she was the first of the Neitype research, and may possibly be that last.

Back to where Mega Man and his friends were at, they were about halfway from a town where they could rest. Though so far apart, Neifirst and Mega Man's fates are bound to meet eventually, and one would be more affected by the other, in more ways than one. They both had dark paths before them, but they have to walk them, if the Children of Destiny are to ever have a chance to be born and understand what they all fought for.

End Chapter 9

Author's notes

This chapter was a little shorter than the others, but a lot of things happened as you can tell. So what do you think of the plot so far? I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions. And in case you were wondering, my Numan character, Sarah, will make an appearance in some of the upcoming chapters, but that still is a ways into the story yet. I have thought out a good majority of the story and even have an epic ending thought out. But that is even more a ways off. How many chapters this story will have, I'm not sure, but I hope you like what I've done so far, and will enjoy the rest to come. I also forgot something in Chapter 4, but I fixed it. It's the part in the Room of Clocks. I just forgot a little detail, but it plays fairly big role in the plot, so go back and reread it when you get the chance.

Summary of the next few Chapters

Mega Man and his pals sure have their hands full, as the Dark Knight Malakie is also in pursuit of the pieces of the gate that leads to another world where the original Zelda slumbers. Things really heat up when Ganondorf finds out about the gate and sends out his entire force to try and gather them, even to try and steal them from Mega Man and his pals, as well as Malakie. It becomes a race against the forces of Darkness. And if they live through this, Mega Man will have to face his own inner Darkness in the near future, or rather a Darkness that has been residing within him for the past few years.


	10. Pieces of the Gate and the Dark realm

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 10

Pieces of the Gate and the Dark realm.

Mega Man awoke to the light that came in through the window. It was morning. Link was just finishing putting his gear on, and Sonic just sat at the foot of his bed, they were staying at an inn in the village they had entered last night.

"Hey Mega," Sonic started. "What did you think of that girl Jennifer that we teamed up with before?"

"She is kind-natured girl with a strong will. Why do you ask?" Mega Man asked.

"Oh nothing really, just wondering what you thought of her."

"If you're wondering if I like her, then yes, if I love her, no."

"Blunt and straight to the point, I like that." Link had no idea what to make of the conversation, so he just stayed out of it.

"Besides, it's not like we could be happy together anyway, not with my current body," Mega Man added.

"Your current body?" Link asked. "You look normal to me."

"I may look normal, but underneath I'm full of all sorts of things you wouldn't understand," Mega Man replied. Link put on a rather bewildered look, but he soon shrugged it off and they left the inn. The village was a bit small, and very few people were out and about, but is was a bit early. Link and Mega Man got on their horses and Sonic just followed them down the dirt road over the open field that was about as far as the eye can see. Various plant-life grew on the sides of the path, and other signs of life could be seen. It was a beautiful morning, the grass and leaves on the trees a bright green, the flowers were in bloom, and it was hard to believe that this place was in the middle of dark times, but some areas haven't been torn up yet. But even the other areas that were already a mess would return to normal with time, they always do, unless the battle was so fierce that the place was scarred forever.

Back in the sanctuary in Kakariko, Zelda was sleeping in one of the rooms until someone shook her a few times. Her eyes opened and she propped herself up and tried to look at who it was.

It was the wise man. She was a bit groggy, but she managed to ask, "What is it?" as she rubbed her eyes.

"You have to get away, the ones that kidnapped you before are here!" the man replied.

"Not them again! Where will I hide?"

"You won't be safe here, but there is a secret passage that you can take to an underground water channel." And with that Zelda hopped off the bed and followed him to small room which was locked before. The man quickly pressed a stone on the wall and a hidden door opened.

"Here, you best take these," the man said. He then handed her a bag that she could carry on her back.

"What's inside?"

"No time for talking, you'll know what to do when you find a safe spot in there, now go!" And with that Zelda ran inside and the man pressed the stone again, and the door closed. It was dark, but she saw a lantern when she entered, and something to light it, she felt for it and found it, and she managed to get it lit. She ran down the path and came across a spot where the water covered the floor. She carefully walked in the water, which was only about ankle deep. It was gloomy down there, and the only signs of life were some rats that ran along the ledges. She soon found a small room that was already lit, so she went inside and closed the door behind her. She looked in the bag and found some traveling clothes and other supplies. The clothes were some white traveler's pants, brown boots, a light blue tunic, and a small blue scarf. She quickly changed and put her other clothes in the bag and returned it to her back. She traveled through the tunnels for awhile, until she came across what she thought was a dead end. She looked around and found a hidden switch which opened a path to the outside. Once she was out, the path closed. She could just barley see the village in the distance, so she went away from it.

After a few hours, our heroes made it to another ruin. It didn't look like much from the outside, but one thing caught their attention; Malakie's horse was waiting close to the entrance.

"What should we do?" Sonic asked.

"Only one thing to do, get inside and face Malakie," Link replied.

"That's suicide!" Mega Man protested.

"I know it sounds crazy, but we have no other option right now," Link said.

"There is one option that I think is better," Sonic said.

"And what's that?" Link asked.

"Swipe the gate piece right from under his nose," Sonic replied.

"Sort of a hit and run routine, minus the hit," Mega Man commented. So with that they entered the ruin, they walked through many empty rooms, except for the remains of the enemies that littered the floor, due to Malakie being there, it made it easier for them to go through the place at a rather quick pace. They hurried to try and get to the room that had the piece of the gate before he got there, and they noticed that they were going up in a spiral. Due to the fact that the entrance of the ruin was in the side of a cliff, it hid the fact that they were going into a tower. They climbed many staircases and could see the outside, and how high they were. They finally reached the top, and there was a huge double door. They all pushed on it, and it wasn't even moving, but then in a split second the doors swung open, and they stumbled a little.

The room inside was huge and round, and oversaw the surrounding area. Huge stone pillars were at the edges of the room, and in the center of the room was a dragon that looked more powerful and fiercer than the first one they fought, but it was dead, and standing over it was Malakie, his huge sword drawn, his cape flowing in the faint breeze that went through the room. He did a slight glance at them, where all they could see was a faint red slit of his eye.

"So you've come." He then slowly but fully turned around to face them. "You're a little late. But not too late to try and claim the piece here." He then thrust his sword into the ground in front of him, and rested both of his hands on the top of the handle. "Now tell me, what is the true meaning of war?"

"To impose ones will, upon another," Mega Man replied.

"Correct, that is the true meaning of war, that is what Ganondorf is doing, imposing his will upon the land," Malakie replied. He then pulled his sword out and held it at an angle. "But, some people often use war for other reasons, do they not?"

"Yes, some people often start wars for their own gain, rather than imposing their will upon others," Mega Man replied.

"But there are those that didn't start the war that often gain something from it," he added. Malakie then tossed a small bag and it hit the floor, and the string that held it closed opened and cold coins spilled out.

"This is what most people start wars for, they manipulate people of the higher rank to start the war, and thus they get rich by selling certain products to certain parties. Blood money I call it, but that is not what this war is about, it is purely about power and wills. I care not for petty cash or the largest money pile, I shall remake this…no…rather all worlds in my image, and that includes yours," Malakie replied as he pointed at Mega Man and Sonic. He then pointed the tip of his sword at them. "Now show me, show me that you think you can prove you metal and will against mine!"

Link charged towards him with his sword drawn, and shield ready. Malakie shifted his stance, ready to counter. Link jumped high for a head splitter, but Malakie held his sword to his right, and Link saw the counter coming, and held his shield where the counter would hit. Link got in range, and Malakie swung and made contact with the shield, and knocked Link out of the air. Link skidded across the surface and stopped a few feet from the pillars, his arm ached from the impact, and his shield was now bent inward. Mega Man ran for Malakie, and almost pulled off a stunt he pulled nearly a lifetime ago. He went into a roll, and when he was upright, he thrust his sword with all his might, but Malakie sidestepped and all that got pierced was his cape. He then grabbed Mega Man by the neck and lifted him several feet off the ground.

"Where is she?" Malakie asked.

"Where's who?"

Malakie then tightened his grip. "You know of whom I speak, where is the princes of this time?"

Mega Man then changed his right arm into his buster and pointed it at Malakie's face. "Not saying," Mega Man replied as he shot Malakie in the face, he let go, but his armor didn't show any sign of damage, all he did was stagger back a bit, and Sonic quickly plowed into his legs like a bowling ball, knocking him over. Link saw his chance and charged forward with a high leap, with his sword ready to plunge into Malakie's chest. But he saw it coming, and pulled his sword up at the right second, and blocked the blow. Before Link could even react or pull his sword back, Malakie punched him right in the stomach and sent him skyward. He stayed air born for a little bit before landing on his back with a loud thud, sending dust into the air. Just as soon as Malakie got to his feet, Sonic clung to his back and began to hit him in the back of the head with a rock. Malakie wasn't even reacting to the blows as he reached back and grabbed Sonic, slammed him into the ground in front of him, and quickly held his sword back and was about to apply the final blow, but Mega Man nailed him in the chest with a charged shot, making him stagger back again. Mega Man quickly got in front of him and began to unleash a huge barrage of sword wings, but Malakie blocked each one with his sword. He finally got an opening and swung hard, and Mega Man blocked it, but he was pushed back and sent flying as Malakie was able to finish the swing, making sparks fly as his sword's edge ran across the edge of Mega Man's sword. The force of the swing knocked Mega Man off of his feet, and he skidded across the surface and was only about two feet away from the edge. Mega Man managed to look up and see Malakie was coming in fast to finish him off. Mega Man did a quick roll back and stopped right at the edge, but when Malakie's sword made contact with the ground, an energy explosion formed around the sword and grew bigger, and the for of the energy knocked Mega Man out of the tower. Mega Man plummeted at great speeds, and went past many small clouds. He had only one chance to survive, he did a flip and managed to turn around, he held out his buster, and charged it. When it was what he figured was enough, he let loose a shot and was pushed back far enough to where he could try and slide down the wall. He quickly turned around, and saw that part of the wall in front of him stuck out a little, so he grabbed it and his speed slowed down, but not enough to stop. But he charged his buster as he fell, and when he was close to the ground, he let go, and shot at the ground. His buster was charged quiet a bit, so he wound up stopping when he fired, which made his landing soft. Back at the top of the tower, Link and Sonic tried as hard as they could, but Malakie showed no signs of getting tired, or being beaten anytime soon. He didn't even look battered after getting shot by Mega Man's buster for that matter. But thanks to Sonic's fast and creative thinking, he found a way out. He quickly whispered into Link's ear. Link showed an expression of surprise, and took a quick glance Malakie, who was walking towards them. He looked back at Sonic and gave him a quick nod, and Sonic bolted past him, while Link ran for Malakie. Malakie held up his sword to his right, and saw Link veer to his left. He didn't see it, but Link removed his shield, and held it at a certain spot. When Malakie swung, he swung not to slice but bash Link, but bashed his shield and straghtened it out. He then saw Sonic run for the door while carrying the gate piece. Link quickly tossed his shield at the steps, and Sonic jumped onto his back, and Link quickly jumped onto the shield, and they surfed down the stairs. It was a long way down from where Mega Man was at, but he was able to jump down the Cliffside to the bottom where the horses were at. He arrived there about the same time as Link and Sonic stormed out of the ruin. They got on their horses and made a break for it, and Malakie got out and got onto his horse and gave chase, but he didn't get close to them, he just wanted to keep them in sight. They rode past the village they stayed at, and pressed onward, they slowed down when they didn't see Malakie behind them.

"Maybe we were to fast for him," Link commented.

"Maybe Malakie himself, but not that horse of his," Sonic replied. Then they remembered how fast it went, and how they got knocked over when it plowed through them. But they continued and arrived at the gate area, and where ready to learn where the next piece was. Malakie was close by, and was waiting to see where the next light would lead. Like before, all the pieces flew around and around for a bit, then settled back into place, but instead of one light, multiple lights shined at once, going in multiple directions. After the light faded, they were a little perplexed.

"How are we supposed to remember where all those lights pointed?" Sonic asked.

"Maybe some of the pieces are close together, so instead of heading back here right away, we can go get the next piece right away," Mega Man replied.

"The light was in a bit of a circular pattern, so we can head around in a circle," Link added.

"So we should pick a direction to go right away, then after we get the piece, figure out which direction to head next," Sonic said.

"Right, and depending on the direction, will determine on whether we will meet Malakie again or not," Link commented.

"Ugh, I would rather not see him again, period," Sonic said.

"But we have to beat him at one point, or he will take over this world, and try to take over our worlds," Mega Man replied.

"I know I know, but I just whish the Chaos Emeralds were sent along with us, those would at least give us more of an edge," Sonic said.

"Well, which way should we go?" Link asked. "We're not going to get anywhere by just sitting and talking." Mega Man thought for a moment.

"Give me your sword," he asked. Link handed it over, and he placed it on a flat surface of a rock.

"Where the tip points to is where we'll go, and we'll do it one more time after we get the next piece, to determine which direction we'll keep going." And with that he gave the sword a quick spin, and it spun for a few minutes, until it pointed a little to left of the gate. And with that, Link picked up his sword, mounted on his horse, and they rode off, and Malakie took off in the opposite direction.

"Though true the pieces of the gate are keys themselves, but the Zelda of this time is the final key, that I'm sure of. She is probably on the run now, but none the less, this world shall be mine, along with every other world and realm there may be beyond this one!" he laughed as he rode off. "I shall have the ultimate power, once I get my hands on all the Triforce Pieces, I shall be the most powerful being in the universe!"

A few hours went by, and Zelda was resting at an inn. She thought about going back to the castle, but then words reran through her head.

"The castle will be the first place to look," the voice echoed.

'Even though they won't find me there, they might figure I will try and get back, so I can't head over there for a lot of reasons,' she thought. She then quickly checked out the bag, there was some gold in there, but she wasn't sure if it was enough to stay at the inn, and buy supplies the next day. It was a fairly large amount of gold, but not enough to keep staying at inns. But after closing the bag back up, her thoughts trailed off to how the heroes were doing, then on how her father was doing, she figured he was probably worried sick about her. She whished there was some way to get a message to him, but even if she did, it might cause the enemy to find her. For all she knows the person who offers to help might just be one of Ganondorf's minions trying to find her. Her thoughts were interrupted when the inns owner asked if she was going to stay for the night.

"I don't know, I have enough money to stay the night, but I don't have a lot to keep doing that and buy supplies," Zelda replied.

"Well let me see how much money you have and I'll determine the price of the stay," the owner said. He then picked up the bag and quickly opened before Zelda could even open her mouth to try and stop him, but he saw her dress and circlet in there. He smiled and closed the bag and handed and said, "No charge." But Zelda was then troubled.

"But I have to pay something!" she protested.

"Under normal circumstances I would ask for a small amount from you, but you need to lay low, and you need every cent you have," the owner replied.

"I don't know what to say," said.

"Just don't get yourself caught, that's all I have to say," the owner said. "I'll take you to your room." Zelda got up and followed him to the stairs, and they only got a few steps up when the whole place shook violently. Zelda quickly clung to the railing, and the owner fell right past her onto the floor with a loud thud.

"What was that? An attack on the building?" Zelda asked.

"We'll find out in a minute," the owner replied. After a few seconds the whole place shook again, and Zelda lost her grip a little bit. After shaking was done, she quickly got to the bottom of the stairs and almost fell over again but caught herself on the railing again. Then there was a loud roar before another huge shake that followed a loud impact noise. Zelda managed to get out of the inn despite the now continuous shaking and banging were. She got out of the town, and when she looked back, she saw Malakie on top of a giant dragon like lizard. He kept on striking one spot, and she could see why, imbedded in the scales of the beast was a huge gate piece. The beast flung Malakie off, but he landed softly and quickly retaliated by jumping towards the beast and plunging his sword into its forehead, sending a massive amount of electric energy through its body. After the beast roared loudly from the pain before falling limp onto the ground, making the whole place shake one last time, this time knocking some things over, but nothing to damaging. Malakie then walked over to the gate piece and pried it out of the scales with his sword. After he was done, he looked around and caught sight of her, which really made her nervous, but despite that, she tried to turn around and run, but ran into his horse and fell backwards with a light whump. She looked back and saw Malakie was heading right for her, and was already halfway there, so she quickly stood up and slowly stepped away from his horse. She kept on walking backwards, despite the fact the Malakie didn't show any interest in her, but she just wanted to make sure, and after taking another step, her foot didn't land on anything and she began to fall backwards and she gasped in shock. She waved her arms around trying to keep balance, but then something grabbed her hand. She looked and saw it was Malakie, of course he was the only one around at the time, but she was surprised none the less.

"Why did you help me?" she asked after Malakie pulled her forward.

"It's bad enough that the troops die without cause because none of them can beat me, I would rather not have a young beautiful traveler like yourself die because you fear me," Malakie replied. Zelda was relieved that Malakie didn't know she was the princess.

"Why are you fighting against both of us?" she asked.

"I don't think I understand the question."

"I mean, why are you fighting against Hyrule and Ganondorf?"

"It has been a long hatred in the making."

"Hatred?"  
"Long ago, the human tribe lived in peace with the Hylians and the Sheikah tribe. That is until the Gerudo thief tribe forced us out of the area, while both of the other tribes did nothing. For many long years the humans lived life elsewhere, only a century ago did the humans slowly make it back to this land. Though they have forgotten all about that, _I _haven't. I trained for many long years to become what you see before you, and I shall get my revenge on Ganondorf, and the Royal family for just standing by and doing nothing!" and with that reply, Zelda reacted like any woman of her stature would do, she slapped him right in the face, but forgot the slight detail that he had a helmet on that completely covered his face, and was insanely hard as Mega Man's buster shots didn't even dent it. So not only did Zelda realize that she made a mistake in smacking him, she also got throbbing hand out of that.

"A standard female smack, I guess I had it coming, along with many more in the future possibly," Malakie commented. Zelda was relived that he still didn't suspect her, but that was a major hint that she dropped by reacting to his comment on the Royal family. Malakie then mounted his horse and looked at her.

"Your beauty is extraordinary for a traveler, perhaps there is more to you then meets the eye," he commented. Zelda then put on a very worried expression. But Malakie set his eyes forward and rode off for the next shard. After he was out of sight, Zelda's legs gave out and she fell to her knees, and her heart was still pounding. She felt a little flustered, and faint, so faint that she felt like passing out, but then one of the young villagers ran over to her.

"Are you ok?" he asked. Zelda didn't reply, and wound up passing out right on the spot, but the boy caught her.

Meanwhile our heroes have been busy trying to get a piece from a very mean giant spider creature. After having solving many puzzles, they climbed a tall circular staircase and the enemy showed himself, with a very obvious glow of a gate piece inside him. Right now the spider was flustered as Sonic got onto its back and hasn't gotten off since.  
"What's the matter, Ugly, can't make a meal out of any of us?" Sonic asked sarcastically. Link pulled out a bow he just got from inside the dungeon and shot one of the many eyes the spider had.

"If we can just make it hang from a single strand of webbing, we might be able to finish it," Link called. After a few minutes of battle, an idea entered Mega Man's head.

"Link, when the spider gets on the stairs, get out a bomb and stick it on the end of an arrow, and shoot the stairs it's standing on!" Mega Man called.

"Got it!" Link replied. It took a few more minutes, but the spider finally got onto some of the steps, and Link fired away, and blew up the steps, and the Spider plummeted down the tower at great speeds.

"Look out below!" Sonic yelled as he and the spider got out of sight. After a few minutes of silence, the whole place shook from the impact and the crashing sound echoed.

"Sonic, are you ok?" Mega Man called.

"Fine and I got it! I got the piece!" Sonic's voice echoed. A few moments later, one of Ganondorf's minions spotted them leaving the dungeon with the piece in hand. A few hours later, the minion arrived at Ganondorf's lair.

"My lord, three heroes are collecting pieces of something," he said.

"Two of them must be the ones that rescued Zelda from our clutches," another commented. Ganondorf then arose from his shadowy throne, and thus his appearance became clear. His skin was a weird pale greenish color, and his hair an orange-red. His armor a black and grey with some white and gold trim. He had a gem imbedded in his forehead, and his face had scars on it, due to his battle with the first Link, the Hero of Time. During the battle between them while Ganondorf was in his monstrous Ganon state, Link's final blows were right at the face, and a final thrust into the skull.

"So there were three of them?" he asked.

"Yes, one most definitely a descendent of the hero line, and two blue warriors, one is a human in blue armor, and a blue hedgehog that can run as fast as a horse," the messenger replied.

"Long have I tried to put an end to the hero line, but now two more are here, just as the ancient prophecy has foretold. Things do not bold well for us, unless we gather the gate pieces and get to the original Zelda," Ganondorf said. "Time is now at the essence, we must gather the gate pieces from the dungeons that have opened, and take back those that the heroes and Malakie have already gotten ahold of!"

"But what about the princess from this time?" a soldier asked.

"She might be the final key, do what you can to find her, search everywhere, and leave no stone unturned, check every cave and inn; we must have her before the gate is reconstructed!" Ganondorf ordered.

Time was now indeed a faculty, as many people are now after the gate pieces, things weren't going to be easy for the heroes or Zelda for that matter, as she is the final key to gaining access to the original Zelda. Speaking of our heroes, they slowed their fast ride down to a casual travel-style ride, and after a few hours, Link and Mega Man dismounted and walked along their horses to give a little rest. After a few hours, they came across a small forested area, with the sound of a harp being played could be heard from inside. It was a soft gentle tune, it sounded like a lullaby, so they went inside to see if the could find who was playing the tune. While they went through the forest, they could see some fairies flying through the air, and some wildlife was resting. After a few more minutes, they found a young man, dressed in an off-blue outfit, and he had some white wrappings around his forearms and shins, and he had a white hood and white scarf. You could see some of his blond hair, and depending of the angle, more of his face, but the scarf obscured most of it. He was playing a really soothing tune on his harp, until they got fairly close to him. He then stopped playing and opened his eyes, they were a bright red.

"I've been waiting for you heroes of legend," he said. Link drew his sword, and Mega Man's armed glowed like it always did when he changed it into his buster, but the boy then held up a hand.

"I'm not here to harm you, but rather to help reduce harm," he said.

"Huh?" Sonic asked.

"Ganondorf is now after the pieces of the gate, and he intends to send his forces after you, and try and take them from you after they kill you," the man replied.

"Ok, but who are you?" Mega Man asked.

"My name is Sheik, a member of the Sheikah,"

"The Sheikah?" Link asked most perplexed.

"It must come as a shock to you as to how we've appeared extinct for many long years, but we've had to disappear for a time, but now is the time for our return, and I intend to help you," Sheik replied.

"You do seem kind of shady, but I trust you," Mega Man said as he lowered his buster.

"I have a question," Link asked.

"And that would be?" Sheik asked.

"Wasn't Sheik the disguise of Zelda many years ago?" Link asked.

"It was indeed, but I am not Zelda, but I can say she if safe for now, and I'll do what I can to help protect her, for she is the final key," Sheik replied.

"The final key?" Sonic asked, but at that moment, Sheik tossed a smoke pellet that flashed a bright light, and he was gone.

"Zelda is the final key? For what?" Link asked. With the big question over their heads, they left the forest for the next piece. So far now everyone knows the Zelda of this time is the final key, but the key for what? Is she the key to repair the gate or the key for something else? But never the less, it didn't stop our heroes from continuing their quest, but something else was about to slightly hinder their progression. As soon as Link's head cleared a tree to the open field, an arrow stuck into the trunk of the tree next to him. He quickly reacted by turning his horse around and ran back into the trees before a barrage of arrows filled the trunks and branches of the trees.

"Give us your gate pieces or die!" a voice boomed.

"Fat chance!" Sonic replied.

"This is your last warning, or else we'll show you a great deal of pain!" the voice called again.

"And allow me to give you a warning, get lost or you'll regret trying to fight us," Mega Man replied. There was a long pause until the word "Charge!" was yelled. Just as soon as some of the forces got close to the trees, an energy blast knocked most of the soldiers off of the horses, and Mega Man and the others stormed out of the woods. They managed to slip through the forces, but they then quickly gave pursuit. The chase was a long one, Mega Man shot behind them, and the few that caught up Link would battle with his sword. Link even deflected a few arrows that would be shot at them every few minutes. Sonic would on occasion do a homing bash on some of the few that would catch up, heck, he would even jump onto the horse and have the rider swing at him a few times before he undid the saddle, making the rider fall off. The battle was a long one, but eventually they ditched their pursuers, and got a well deserved rest.

"That was a close one," Link commented.

"Don't have to tell me twice, I was beginning to get tired there for awhile," Sonic added.

"We sure do have our work cut out for ourselves, we have two forces after the gate pieces, Malakie and Ganondorf," Mega Man added.

"Do you think we can trust Sheik?" Sonic asked.

"My ancestors did work with the Sheikah a few times in the past, I don't believe that he is a threat," Link replied.

"Either way, we should be cautious, but not so cautious that it clouds our judgment," Mega Man commented. Sonic's mouth curved at that last statement, but he figured he had a point. The next morning, Zelda woke up with the owner of the inn looking at her, along with a young boy.

"How did I get back here?" Zelda asked after she shook her head a few times.

"This young boy brought you back, and he has something to say," the owner replied. Zelda looked at the boy, he was quiet young, a little older than twelve, but he looked familiar.

"Do you remember me princess?" he asked.

"How did you know I'm the princess?" Zelda asked.

"Think back to an event not that long ago," the boy replied. Zelda thought for a moment, and then it struck her.

"You're that boy that snuck into the castle a few years ago, now I remember, you're Jonathon," Zelda stated. "You grew a bit since then, I almost didn't recognize you."

"Because you travel so rarely…" Jonathon started to say, but Zelda cut him short.

"You wanted to see me at least once, I remember the day well." That event began to play back in her head. She was in the castle garden in her blue and white dress. She was bent down in a flowerbed watching the butterflies, and listening to the birds chirping. That is until she heard a snap, a "WHOA! UGH!" along with a whump. She looked around and saw some leaves falling into some bushes. She then walked over and looked into the bush and saw a young boy in the bushes, he looked bewildered at first, until he looked up at her face, and he stared for a few moments before his face began to blush a bit.

"What is a young boy like you doing in the castle?" Zelda asked.

"I…I…I just wanted to meet you," the boy stuttered. A smile came across her face.

"You don't have to be afraid, I won't hurt you, but your parents must be worried about you, leaving home on such a journey." She then helped him out of the bushes.

"What's your name?"

"Jonathon."

"Jonathon, that's a nice name."

"I remember the rest of the event now, we just talked casually, and then I got the idea to ride you home in my carriage," Zelda commented.

"That was a very special day for me, I don't want either of us to forget it," Jonathon said.

"I won't, Jonathon, not after this day, not after you helped me," Zelda replied. She then got out of bed and hugged him gently.

"After what you've done, I'll never forget you, or your kindness."

"Neither will I forget _your_ kindness, princess."

"I hate to leave, but I have to go, to make sure you won't be in too much danger." She said as she let him go. "Be strong Jonathon, and keep your family safe." And with that she gathered her stuff and left the village. Where she was going she wasn't sure, but she knew she had to keep moving to reduce the chance of being captured again. Days passed, and our heroes had the right idea, they kept the pieces they've gathered to make sure that after they've gotten the last piece so they would be able to enter the alternate void right away. They even found a relic that would point them towards the next closest piece from the dungeon they just left. The amount of pieces were great, but so was the amount of people trying to gather them. Many of Ganondorf's forces have gathered a fair amount of pieces, as well as Malakie. But many of the forces were foolish, and tried to take on Malakie, and so the result of the battle left Malakie with more pieces. They even kept on trying to take on the heroes many times, but that didn't go any better. So far the only ones gaining ground were the heroes and Malakie, while Ganondorf was left with almost nothing. During one of the quiet nights, Mega Man stood at the edge of a hill which overlooked a large portion of the land, and off in the distance he could see castle town, where the castle that the king lived at. His thoughts drifted to Zelda, and to his past. What he could remember of it, he could faintly remember two periods of peace, the joy he seemed to have had. He could only recall being a guard during both times, but who he was the guard of he couldn't remember, he could only remember a faint outline of a young girl in a dress with two strands of long hair on either side of her head, there were pillars on either side of her, and the earth was behind her. Though all he could remember was the outline, he could faintly recall her gentle smile. But then for some reason, it caused him to remember something quiet the opposite of gentle, he could now recall an outline of a towering figure, with spikes on the shoulders, and horns that curved upward on either side of the head, and the figure was standing in a sea of flames. This also caused another memory to kick in, one that actually made him fall to his knees in pain, clutching his head, as the memory unfolded. He was standing in a garden area, and he could see the sun and the earth. It was quiet, and uneventful, until a dark spot formed in the sun. He stared blankly at it for a few moments, and then the spot grew huge and shot out many balls of lights like meteors in all directions, many of them just whizzed by, but one went towards earth. But just a split second before it went into the atmosphere, there was a bright flash, and for a second or two, some kind of creature that seemed to be made only of dark energy, was staring him right in the face, it looked demonic, but it then faded. After that, Mega Man found himself looking up at the moon; the pain in his head was gone. He now remembered what that thing was to him, what it had done something that could never be forgiven; it caused the death of millions of lives. He covered his face in agony.

"I can't remember the whole event, but that _thing_ caused the destruction of the Moon Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom. For its sake it better be dead, otherwise I'll show it what's like to suffer. I'll make it pay, this I swear it. Do you hear me? I'll kill you!" Mega Man yelled. Elsewhere another giant beast that had a piece of the gate inside of it met its match at the hands of Malakie. It would appear that no one whether they were on sides or not, couldn't stand up to him and his might. Ganondorf's forces had placed all the pieces they had, and Malakie did the same not to long after, and he figured they would try and find the princess at this point, so he set out looking for her too. The final piece for our heroes to find was in a place where spiritual activity was at its peak. It took them many days too get to this place, and it looked like a tomb, but they had no choice but to enter. They walked in the place for many hours, until they entered a huge circular room that was lit by torches. There was nothing but silence for the longest time, until a faint sound of some kind of chimes sounded, and small bright blue sparkles began to fall from the darkness above them. After a few seconds, one of the lights turned into a blue flame, soon followed by another, and soon all of them turned into flames in just a matter of seconds.

"Who are you?" Mega Man called.

"We are observers, and long have we watched this world along with many others, including yours," a disoriented voice replied.

"You all have a long hard road ahead of you once your task is done in this world, especially you, Mega Man," another added.

"What do you mean?" Mega Man asked.

"You have the weight of all the worlds and lives of many on your shoulders, and you must do everything you can to protect them from a horrible fate."

"Are you talking about the Destiny of Destruction?"

"None other, only you can tilt scales of good and evil into its proper balance, the scales of Destiny to properly call them."

"But how am I supposed to know whether or not I've set the proper things into motion?"

"You must only survive, and keep those that become close to you alive as well, for if one of them dies too soon, all will be lost and the Great Destructor will be born from foes you have faced already and yet to face."

"Is there anything else I should know?"

"Yes, you may be thinking that you will be involved in the battle yet to come, but you will be long gone by the time it comes about."

"But I thought you told me I have to survive!"

"You need to survive long enough to set the events into motion, an early death would gravely alter things, but death is inevitable for all things, one way or another."

"So I can't do anything in that battle then."

"That is all we can tell you, take the final piece, and go and protect those you have sworn to protect!" at that moment there was a bright flash and the gate piece appeared. And soon the flames began to fade.

"Never give up on your belief, for it is the highest belief and reason to fight, and never give in to your inner darkness," the voice said before the flame was gone.

"All that's left to do here is to place the pieces we have, and hope that's all of them," Sonic said. After a few hours they were on their way to the gate, but it would take a few days to get there as the path they went along took them further and further away from the gate area. About a few hours after sunrise in one particular area, Zelda had just crossed a bridge that led to a rocky-sandy canyon area. After walking for a little bit, she came across what appeared to be abandon forts that was built next to the cliff to her right.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" she called, but she judge by the way the wind was blowing through the place, and how old it looked, no one was in the area.

'I guess I could set up camp here.' She continued moving along and saw an old rotted gate that led to the desert. It was so old the gate came of its hinges so long ago it was almost completely buried in the sand. She stepped past the gate a ways to get a look at what she could see beyond the canyon, and all she could see was just a long outstretch of sand that went for as far as the eye could see. She stopped to take a quick glance around, but about a second or two after she stopped the ground felt odd under her feet. Looking down she saw her feet slowly sink beneath the sand making her gasp. She sank all the way to her knees before she stopped.

'What do I do now?' she thought as she looked back and forth. But then a voice spoke.

"You don't need to worry, you're not in quicksand, just very soft sand," the voice said, and it sounded like a young man. She looked back and saw a young man dressed in an off blue outfit, and he had some white wrappings around his forearms and shins, and he had a white hood and white scarf. You could see some of his blond hair, and depending of the angle, more of his face, but the scarf obscured most of it, and his eyes were a bright red. She then looked back at her legs, which was a bit unnerving seeing part of her body sink into the earth.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive, the quicksand is part way in the sandstorm ahead of you," the man replied.

"Sandstorm? I don't see a sandstorm."

"You didn't set fully into the desert yet. Don't worry, you can move you legs, you won't sink deeper, I promise." Zelda wasn't quiet sure, but she carefully turned around, and lifted one leg out, placed it on the surface and lifted the other foot out before going into a run back to where the man was standing.

"See, you were in no danger," the man said.

"You were right, but it's not every day when you sink a little into some sand," Zelda replied as she glanced at the ground, and saw where the sand actually stared, it started a few feet from the gate, and the man stood right at the border.

"What's out there anyway?" Zelda asked.

"Out there is where Ganondorf was born," the man replied.

"By the way, I'm Sheik of the Sheikah,"

"The Sheikah? But that's impossible!"

"I know it sounds crazy, but we have been in hiding most of the years, but we've slowly been coming back. Right now I'm here to protect you from the forces that would use you for their own gain."

"You're here to protect me, on whose order?"

"No ones, I'm here on my own accord, and when I last saw the heroes, they were doing fine, I even warned them about how the forces will be hunting them for the gate pieces."

"Ok the. But how did you find me?"

"Quiet by chance actually, I saw you while I roaming around."

"Wait, you _knew_ I was the princess?"

"Now I know, but not very many women travel, but some do, so I figured every woman I find I should check out."

"Do you think the enemy knows who I really am?"

"I don't think so, you haven't come into contact with any of them again have you?"

"Not with the forces that captured me, but I did have a run in with Malakie."

"He didn't know it was you?"

"We've never met before, and he didn't seem to know me, but I think he had his suspicions."

"Well I guess no harm was done then. Come on, we'll camp in the old Gerudo fortress." And so they started heading back for the fortress.

"So this is where the Gerudo tribe lived."

"No one knows what happened to the Gerudo tribe, but after many years, the people left this particular area, so it has been abandoned for quite awhile, almost forgotten."

"So Ganondorf is the last of the Gerudo tribe it appears."

"It would appear to be the case." They were close to one of the many entrances when many armed forces surrounded them. Zelda gasped when she recognized the armor, they were dressed like the ones who captured her.

"Give the princess to us and we'll let you go unharmed," one of them said.

"You're making a mistake, this girl isn't Zelda! She is my sister!" Sheik protested.

"Don't be funny boy, we've met the princess before, and we're not ones to mistake a person that high of stature," another replied. One of them walked towards them.

"I know the last time we met we weren't very gentle, but you tried to run away that time. So do yourself a favor this time and come quietly and we won't have to resort to the rough stuff," he said. Zelda glanced towards the desert, but she figured she wouldn't last ten minutes out there, and she figured Sheik would try and protect her from the forces, but there were too many of them to take on.

"Sheik, I'll give myself up,"

"But Zelda…"

"Please, there are too many of them, you wouldn't last five maybe ten seconds against them. I know what I'm risking, but I couldn't risk your life for mine, I couldn't get away while you fought either, I'm sorry, but the health of my people come before me."

"Princess…" Sheik said sadly.

"Now that's a smart girl. Take them both, so the princess won't be lonely," the soldier that was close to them said. A few days later, our heroes arrived at the gate, and Malakie was watching from a distance. All the pieces they had flown all over the place for a few good minutes, and they all began to glow brightly. A few more minutes and they all gathered into one. The light soon faded and the gate was whole again. Two stone doors towered over them.

'Now we shall see if the Princess is needed for this gate,' Malakie thought. But soon the doors began to open inward. The doors soon fully opened and a grassy field with a dark looking sky could be seen. All kinds of energy seemed to be flowing through the sky in this Dark realm, but they had no choice, they had to enter, and so they marched into the realm that they opened. Malakie then road off to find Zelda, for he now knew her purpose. A few hours later, the group that captured Zelda and Sheik had set up camp. They had Zelda put on her dress in one of their tents, before they tied her up and placed her with Sheik.

"Well, this is one bit of a jam, isn't it?" Sheik asked. Zelda was silent.

"I have to ask, what lengths would you have went to protect me?" he then asked.

"I would have killed myself if I had to."

"I never realized how much your subjects meant to you."

"Isn't that how things should be done?"

"Not very many people are like you, that much I can say."

"Well either way we should rest, I'm sure Mega Man, and the others will rescue us when they can." But about half a minute later, there was a loud scream.

"They maybe here already," Sheik said.

"I hope so," Zelda said with worry in her voice. Many more screams were heard, and a few soldiers flew by in front of them, and over head. This went on for a few moments, until there was silence. Zelda was filled with fear, and soon the sound of metal clanking could be heard, and the sound kept on getting closer and closer. As this continued, Zelda tried to squeeze herself into a corner, but had no luck. Soon a huge shadow loomed over them; the shadow of Malakie, his eyes glowed brightly as he looked at her.

"So we meet again, Princess Zelda," Malakie said rather calmly.

"Wh…what do you want from me?" Zelda stuttered as Malakie approached.

"You are the final piece of the puzzle," Malakie replied as he then reached down and grabbed some of the rope that bound her.

"NO! Please, let me go! I beg of you!" Zelda screamed in terror as Malakie hoisted her into the air without even putting effort into it.

"Let her go!" Sheik yelled.

"So, this is a member of the Sheikah. I'm honored and surprised you showed yourselves in this ordeal. I can use you too," Malakie said as he reached down and grabbed his too.

"Why are you doing this? What are you planning?" Zelda asked.

"The heroes are now in the realm where the original Zelda slumbers. I merely have a theory I would like to put to the test, which will be the heroes, and my final test," Malakie replied. He took them to his horse, and tied Zelda to the top of a tall pole, and knocked Sheik out, got onto the horse, and placed Sheik right in front of him.

"We have a long ride before us. For our destiny awaits us!" Malakie yelled before grabbing a hold of the pole and riding off while laughing.

End Chapter 10

Author's notes

Sorry I wasn't able to update for awhile, but I had pc trouble, but now I should be able to get back to a regular schedule. And on another note, gosh dang it, I really messed up a part in chapter 5, and it wasn't a small part, but a huge part! Man I feel like an idiot, but at least I caught it before I got too far into the story. Hopefully this won't happen again, and I apologies for forcing you to backtrack. And sorry if this chapter seemed a little short and cutting a lot of stuff out, but I need to get the story moving, and things will flow like they should after this chapter, so I hope you've enjoyed what I've written so far.


	11. The Forgotten Realm

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 11

The Forgotten Realm

Our heroes now wander in a world where immense amounts of energy crack and boom like thunder in the sky above them. The lighting in the area made things look a little hazed, but only slightly. They wandered past many places that appeared to be villages, with many creatures that were many shapes and sizes. They were humanoid shaped, but otherwise they were almost shapeless. They had an eerie stare, which wracked there nerves a bit, but they continued on.

"Just what is this place?" Sonic asked.

"I have no idea, I've never heard of anything that even comes close to describing this place, it makes no sense," Link replied.

"At first glance, one would think this is where beings of pure darkness are born, but none of the people here appear violent, as none of them seem to want to attack us," Mega Man stated.

"Well there emotionless stares are a bit unnerving, but I guess we appear as strange to them as they appear strange to us," Sonic commented. After a few minutes many hooded figures surrounded them.

"We're just looking for someone, we don't mean any harm," Link said as he held up a hand.

"Come with us, we've been expecting you," one of the figures said. They led them to a huge and spectacular looking palace. While following the hooded ones around, they noticed things weren't hazed like the outside. After walking through various rooms, they reached the throne room. Sitting on the throne, was a woman in long robes, her face was beautiful, her skin was a grey color, her hair a long bright orange, and her eye a bright red.

"Welcome heroes, I am Midna, queen of the Twili. At first I thought it not possible for us to meet other beings again, but I'm glad to have been proven wrong," Midna said with a smile. She arose and walked towards them. "Many long years ago, I destroyed what I thought was the only relic which acted at the entrance to the Twilight Realm, what is now the Realm of darkness. The relic was called the Twilight mirror, only a true ruler could completely destroy it, I did it to protect our world and your world."

"How long have you been around?" Sonic asked.

"Not as long as Ganondorf, but a fairly long time," Midna replied.

"How did you know we were coming?" Link asked.

"Because we have relics that enable us to watch your world, but there is an interesting bit of history I would like to share that I just found out not too long ago." Midna replied. "Now this is going back to the very first king. Back then, our worlds were connected by the gate which you just repaired. We lived in peace and harmony for many long years, but when he died, and the prince cast the spell on the original Zelda, many of the people feared for the worst, but they reached a decision, to keep the original Zelda safe, they gave her to us to hide somewhere in our Realm. When a war broke out, we feared some raid parties might try and search our world for Zelda along with trying to rule over us. We got together with a group of hylians and reached a decision, we would destroy the gate and while they hid the Twilight Mirror somewhere. I only learned of this history very recently, because we searched our world for anything that could link our world with yours. After a few day searches, we found some kind of temple, we could not enter because of a barrier that surrounded the place. Not too far from the temple we found an ancient mural with very old text written on it. Only very few of our tribe could read the text, not surprising really is the fact they the ones that could read the text were very old. I now know what lies within the temple, for it is what you all seek for various reasons. If I could I would have entered the temple myself and attempt to reawaken Zelda, and if I was successful, I would have tried to find a way to open the gates between our worlds."

"How can we be sure we can trust you?" Mega Man asked.

"I realize you have no reason to believe everything I just told, but know this, if I had wanted to kill you, I would have come to you personally, don't be fooled by my looks, I'm more powerful then you think," Midna replied. He eyes then turned to Link, a very warm smile came across her face. "You look just like your ancestor." Link staggered back in shock.

"How do you know of my lineage?" Link asked.

"I have been around for many long years, your ancestor helped me take care of one of my people who turned against me, and we also restored peace in both our worlds by taking care of Ganondorf back then," Midna replied.

"I'm just curious, why are you willing to help us save Zelda, even though you've never met?" Sonic asked.

"I may not have met this Zelda, but I met one of the many that came and went, at first I looked down upon the hylians and Zelda, I felt she didn't have what it takes to rule the kingdom. But then one day, I realized how much she cared for her people, and people of other kingdoms," Midna replied.

"How?" Mega Man asked.

"Through an act of pure kindness, she saved me from dying, while it almost cost her life. I've watched the princesses that came and went, and each one of them, was always willing to risk their lives for their people, that is the commitment that I've based the way I rule my people. Though it cost me a bit of happiness, I would have liked to have lived with the people of this land, to be able to live with the Link of that time, but it wasn't meant to be, not yet. Though darkness and light may be on the same coin as the Zelda of that time stated, they still can't mix together. But we are no longer going to hide in our world, we will live with the people of the world of light, for being in the dark to long, can affect your heart," Midna replied. She then took a few steps closer to Mega Man. "I've seen your resent exploits, you have the makings of a great leader, your heart is pure, you have good knowledge of the world and the ways of life, and yet, I can't place my finger on it, something about you feels out of place." She said as she slowly reached for his chest, as if looking for something. Her fingers had just barley touched his chest which caused a huge spark of energy where he fingers touched. They both screamed loudly, and the hooded ones went into an attack position and let out a long his noise. Link and Sonic were bewildered and had no idea what to do. Midna soon literally threw herself away from Mega Man and thudded against the hard stone floor. Soon all eyes were on Mega Man, who was showing both vocal and physical signs of pain as massive amounts of energy flowed through and around his body. Sparks and cracks filled the air as the whole place began to shake and tremble. Mega Man's mind began to fill with memories that were not his own, he could feel a strong and powerful presence began to form within him, threatening to take over. Soon, energy in the form of a dark pinkish-purple color began to form around him, and a part of the flame began to rise up towards the ceiling, and stopped after it was almost at the ceiling. The ceiling in the room was really tall, where you almost couldn't see it because it got darker as it went up. Soon the flame began to stretch out to the sides, and something skeletal like began to become visible.

"IIIIIIIII…..LLLLLIIIIVVVVVVEEEEE AAAGGGAIINNN!" a loud voice boomed which almost brought the whole place down. Mega Man almost wasn't visible in the flame, where as the big thing was becoming clearer and clearer and the flame around slowly began to die down. But after a loud thunder crack sound, the flame around it sparked back up and it whaled it pain.

"AAAGGGGHH! CURSE YOUR STRONG WILL!" it yelled. The form began to wither and soon shattered to pieces and the flame died down to where Mega Man was fully visible again, but the flame was still around him, as if trying to stay lit. But it soon fully died, and Mega Man almost went completely limp onto the floor, but caught himself with one hand after he fell on his knees. He held his other arm while he trembled in pain. His eyes drifted upward and fell on Midna, who got up while holding the arm that touched him at the wrist.

"Midna, are you alright?" One of the hooded ones asked.

"I'm fine, I would be likewise if I didn't force myself away from him when I did," Midna replied. She didn't appear to be in pain, our showed any signs of discomfort, other than her hand which she shook a little bit.

"What was that _thing_ that almost got out of you?" Sonic asked.

"I have no idea, nor where it came from, but I have an idea how I got it," Mega Man replied. He recalled his eighth battle with Wiley, after he had destroyed Wiley's last machine, and after Wiley begged for forgiveness, the evil energy that a robot named Duo called it, came out of the remains of the machine, and went straight for Mega Man and forced itself into his body, nearly killing him. Mega Man thought Duo had removed all of it, but it seems some of it managed to stay behind. He figured the amount of it was about as much as he hated having to fight.

"Well whatever it is, and wherever it came from, it appears it was a living being at one point, as it nearly took physical form. My guess is that it feeds off of dark energy and emotions. It can't do anything to feed on dark energy unless it's what in the heart of the person who it resides in. My other guess is that it went to you because of how powerful you are, but it can't do anything because you don't have any large amount of hatred in your heart. However it appears it was starting to feed off the energy here because this is a Realm of Darkness. And the only reason it was able to do that was because I came into physical contact with you, and when my contact broke, there was an opening which enabled it to feed on the energy in the air, you managed to seal that opening in time, which resulted in it going back into your body, but it can't do anything because it is just as it was before," Midna commented.

"How do we remove it?" Link asked.

"That I can't even take a guess at, but I can tell you this, don't let your anger consume you, for if you do, that thing will take over your body," Midna replied. She then walked over to Link and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Take good care of him, for I can feel the fate of all the worlds rest on his shoulders. There is nothing else I can do; all I can do is tell you where the temple is." After she gave them the directions, they made their way to the temple. About an hour or so passed, and the temple could be seen. Calling it a temple was an understatement, for it was about as huge as a fortress. A huge multiple colored barrier surrounded the whole placed, one thought went through their heads at the same time, they needed the current Zelda. But then at that moment "I've been waiting for you." A familiar voice boomed. A split second later and Sheik flew through the air towards them and hit the ground hard, he was out cold. Soon they saw a shape beginning to rise above the hill directly in front of the gate, and soon it became clear what it was, Zelda was tied to at the highest part of the pole, and holding was Malakie, who was riding his horse towards them. He soon stopped when he was at the top of the hill, and jabbed the pole right into the center of it. Zelda was unconscious as the wind blew her hair and dress.

"What are you up to Malakie?" Mega Man demanded.

"This is our final test," Malakie replied.

"Final test?" Link asked.

"What do you mean our _final test_?" Sonic asked.

"We all have a common goal. We all know that this Zelda is the final key," Malakie replied as he pointed at her. "This final test will prove who has the right to reawaken the original Zelda, and has the right to kill Ganondorf and take claim to the Triforce of Power!" he added as he made a tight fist.

"All you care about is power at any cost!" Mega Man shouted.

"To rule this world, and the worlds beyond, that is my calling. Your calling is to try and save the worlds. It is time to see which one is worthy to endure and be passed down to our descendents!" Malakie called. He then pulled out his sword and held it to his side. "Take up your arms against me, our destinies await." Link then drew his sword and charged towards him, Malakie did a quick gesture with his sword before charging also. For a few moments they were heading right for each other head on, but Link then veered to one side and they both swung at each other. Both blades made contact with each other, but Malakie used full force in the swing, which in turn, caused his swing to keep going and knocked Link off of his horse flying backwards for a few minutes before hitting the ground a few times. Mega Man and Sonic got to Link's side as he propped himself up, and they looked over and Malakie was slowly heading towards them.

"I was only toying with you last time, this time a whole lot more is at stake rather than just a small gate piece, but if this is all you have to offer, then this battle will be all to easy," Malakie stated. Mega Man quickly charged his buster and shot at him, but Malakie reflected the blast right back at him making it go even faster than Mega Man shot it, causing it to nail him before he could even react. He hit the ground hard as the horse ran off; he got up and faced Malakie, who in turn stared him down.

"If the enemies you've faced here and from your world, if there were any, must have been weak and foolish and didn't know how to fight, you don't have any style, no real strategy, or are you perhaps getting a feel for how I fight, what I am truly capable of?" Malakie wondered out loud as he slowly circled Mega Man. A split second later, Sonic ran around the horse at insane speeds, and soon created a small tornado which sent Malakie and his horse skyward. Sonic stopped and the tornado disappeared as quickly as it came, and Malakie hit the ground before his horse did. The horse didn't land softly, but Malakie did, and he didn't even seem fazed.

"Bothersome rodent, you speed is an annoyance," Malakie commented. Sonic then stuck his tongue and did a raspberry. "Not to mention your attitude."

"Well if you don't like it, come and do something about it!" Sonic called. Malakie quickly dashed for his and thrust his sword hard but Sonic just quickly sidestepped, of course it was a bit close due to how fast Malakie moved. Malakie swung at him a couple of times and just barley missed every time. After one last swing, Link ran up and thrust his sword into his chest, but it didn't even pierce his armor. Malakie then swung his arm at him, and Link just barley ducked it. Link then swung his sword and made contact, but it still didn't pierce the armor.

"What is this suit made out of?" Link asked.

"Wait a minute, it must be made out of the metal similar to the suits we faced back in the first dungeon, only minus the reflective capabilities," Sonic replied.

"You're right, other rise my shots would have reflected when I shot him those couple of times," Mega Man agreed. Malakie swung his sword at Link again, but he jumped it and struck his head right in the middle, but he sword just bounced off. On his way back down, Malakie kicked him in the stomach, which made him pause a little, and he then quickly hit him with a hard punch, sending him flying backwards. After he did that, Mega Man tackled him from behind and they skidded across the ground a little. Mega Man was about to try something, but Malakie knocked him off with his elbow before he could do anything. Just as soon as Malakie was upright again, Mega Man gave him a knee to the stomach, a hard right hook followed by a left one, then a hard punch to the stomach, then the famous double hand bash to the back of the skull which floored him. Malakie was done yet, or that badly injured for that matter, for he quickly got up while spinning in a small circle, which would have had the sword cut Mega Man in half if he didn't jump back before Malakie started the attack. After Malakie turned to face him again, Sonic plowed into his back, and Mega Man quickly did a dash punch into his face, which in turn made Malakie flip backwards onto his stomach as they continued moving. Before Malakie could even catch his breath, Mega Man quickly landed on his spine, and the grabbed his head and started to pull with all his strength. Malakie finally showed signs of pain by screaming loudly as Mega Man pulled. But despite the pain, he quickly plunged his sword into the ground and created a force field which knocked Mega Man back. If Mega Man didn't see Malakie's quick motion with the sword, he might have lost some fingers. Malakie stood up and snapped his neck a few times.

"Now this is more like it, a battle worthy of my talents. After all, the prize is absolute power I believe," he stated. Link then ran up from behind and did another leap, and just as he swung, Malakie turn and swung his sword and shattered Link blade on contact. Link was only able to stare in stunned horror for a few seconds before Malakie nailed him with a hard left hook.

"If only you had found the Master Sword in your travels, would you have stood a chance against me," Malakie stated. Sonic then quickly hammered him with many homing strikes with very short pauses. Sonic kept this up for a few good minutes as Malakie could only move very little before each strike. After a few minutes, Malakie found an opening and went for it, he thrust out his arm as fast as he could, and managed to grab Sonic by the neck as he went by. He then slammed Sonic into the ground, and Mega Man then bashed him from behind and sent him flying a bit, but he then did a fancy flip and landed softly. He managed to see Mega Man point his buster at him, before firing a really high charged blast, which came out as a huge beam and nailed Malakie and sent his sword flying. Malakie screamed in pain as the energy plowed into him, forcing him backwards a bit. After the beam died down, Mega Man still wasn't done; he then dashed towards him at great speeds while his right fist glowed brightly. Malakie couldn't do a thing as Mega Man rammed his fist into his chest, and Malakie felt his ribs chatter. The force of the punch made a hole in his armor and made a series of cracks in it as well as sending him flying back quite a few feet. Mega Man fell to his knees as he breathed heavy, as this was the most taxing battle he ever had in his life so far. His eyes drifted upward, and one word left weakly from his mouth, "No." Malakie was heading towards them, slower than what he used to do, but still, he was alive. Blood was pouring out of the hole in his armor, his walk was long staggering limps.

"So long as there is an ounce of strength in my body, I will continue to fight for my destiny, my calling!" Malakie yelled. His voice showed how much pain he was in, but he didn't care, he still pressed onwards them and his sword. He was about halfway to his sword, when all of a sudden a sword handle stuck out of his, the side where his heart was at. Mega Man glanced over and saw Link had tossed what was left of his sword in Malakie's chest. Malakie then fell to his knees.

"So this is it then, my calling was not meant to be," he said.

"Malakie, it didn't have to end like this," Mega Man said.

"Your remorse is to be admired, to fight many people with all your might, and still have pity for them," Malakie stated.

"I don't want to kill anyone, but I can't those people who deny my help and continue to try and enslave the world live. Many people count on me, I can't let them down!" Mega Man called.

"Most interesting, but I have a favor to ask, though I Know you will do it regardless, but do it as a favor to me, wipe the Gerudo tribe off the face of planet! Kill Ganondorf and make sure he never returns!" Malakie requested.

"It shall be done," Link replied.

"Thank you, but I'll give you a fair warning,, if I am offered the chance to return to life, I'll take it, and I'll come after either you or your decedents, which ever is able to fight me, for I will not give up on my calling, make sure to tell them about me, so they can be ready should ever that day come, I swear it!" Malakie said before the last bit of his life faded. His eyes then closed and he fell onto his face and his armor clanked. Link and Sonic staggered to their feet and went over to help Mega Man up, and after they lifted him, a this beam of light appeared not to far from the fortress. They looked over at it as it grew bigger and bigger and something was appearing inside.

"Could it be?" Link asked. It looked like a sword was appearing inside the light. After the light was gone, there was a blade with a fancy blue handle resting in a pedestal. It had a gold gem where the blade started, and there was the symbol of the Triforce carved into the blade. Link walked on over to the sword and stared at it for a little bit, but he knew what it was, it was the legendary sword of evil bane, the Master Sword. He took a firm grip on the handle with both hands and energy began to spark from the blade. After this went on for a little bit, he then pulled with all his might and the sword came out of the pedestal as well as a bright light that enveloped the whole area. When the light faded they then noticed that their wounds were healed.

"So this is the Master Sword," Sonic commented.

"Virtually every one of my ancestors has wielded this sacred blade at least once," Link said as he examined the sword. They then turned their sights to those who were tied up. For a moment, everything was black, until Zelda opened her eyes and was looking at Link, and that he was holding her in his arms.

"Link, is that you?" she asked.

"None other," Link replied.

"We saved you again princess, this time from the clutches of Malakie," Sonic said. A smile came across her face for a moment or two, until a thought entered her head which made her gasp.

"Sheik! Where is Sheik?" she asked.

"Easy princess, I'm right here," Sheik replied.

"Oh thank goodness, I was worried for a moment," Zelda said as she left out a sigh.

"Well we're not done yet, there is still the task at hand," Mega Man said. They all looked over at the fortress which was still glowing multiple colors.

"Yeah, there is still the fact that we have to get the original Zelda out of there, and beat Ganondorf," Sonic added.

"But how are you supposed to get inside with a barrier around it?" Zelda asked.

"From what we've gathered, you're the one that can open it," Link replied.

"_I'm_ the one that's supposed to open it?" Zelda asked.

"Feel inside yourself, you know you can do it," Sheik replied. Zelda took a look at the fortress, it was a little unnerving to undo a barrier that big, but she did feel that she had it in her. So she took a firm stance, and walked towards the fortress until she was only a few feet from it. She held out her hands and closed her eyes.

"By the forces of nature, created by the three goddesses, grant me the power to let these heroes pass and fulfill the prophecy!" Zelda called. A golden aura formed around her, and eventually, the barrier glowed the same color. After a few moments the barrier faded as well as the glow around Zelda. Zelda then opened her eyes ad a small smile came arcos her face. "I did it." Sonic then ran up besides her.

"Come on, we got to get a move on, Ganondorf is sure to be in this Realm by now," Sonic stated.

"You mean you want me to go in there with you guys?" Zelda asked.

"I can understand why, if we head back, we're sure to get caught by him or his forces again," Sheik commented. Zelda then sighed as she lowered her head. "You're right, I forgot about them." Mega Man then ran up to the gates and shoved them open.

"Lets move it, we've come too far to let the forces of evil win now," Mega Man called.

"I'm right behind you!" Link replied. They almost didn't notice it, but they couldn't see this while the barrier was up, but the whole place seemed to be made out of some kind of crystal. They traveled the place for a good twenty minutes due to how big it was, and the amounts of enemies that seemed to now live in the place. They soon rested in a courtyard area in front of a huge tower. But before they got there, they found a crossbow which they gave to Zelda.

"What is it with princesses being locked up in towers?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

"For the flair of the dramatic I guess," Mega Man replied.

"I wasn't expecting to get a reply, but that was a good answer," Sonic commented.

"Also because towers can be harder to climb sometimes I think," Link added. After a few minutes of climbing the long tower which was filled with many traps and puzzles, the finally reached the top with a pair of huge double doors. Mega Man walked over to them and gave them a good hard shove and they swung open a bit. They walked into a room fool of pillars, and right ahead of them was what looked like a casket. They went over to it while the doors closed behind them, and once they got close enough, they could see that the casket was made out of crystal, and inside was the very first Zelda, she looked like the Zelda next to them, but older, and she wore a fancier dress that had mostly white, a bit of pink, a bit of gold, and a hint of blue.

"So this is the original Zelda," Mega Man said as he ran his hand arcos the surface of the casket.

"She's beautiful!" Zelda said.

"Hm, just for the sake to reduce some possible confusion, think we'll call you princess Zelda, or just princess, as I think this one should just be called Zelda, or better yet, queen Zelda," Sonic commented.

"_Queen_ Zelda?" Sheik asked.

"He's right, by all accounts, she should be the next queen of Hyrule," Princess Zelda replied.

"She will be likewise once I'm done with all of you," a deep voice said. They turned around and saw man in front of the doors; his skin was a weird pale greenish color, and his hair an orange-red. His armor a black and grey with some white and gold trim. He had a gem imbedded in his forehead, and his face had scars on it.

"Ganondorf I presume," Mega Man said.

"I am amazed at how long this has gone on, and to think, the original Zelda was here, of all places, I wasn't able to enter this place back when I was banished here before because of the barrier, even with my powerful Magic and the Triforce of Power I couldn't break it, but now, it is time the settle old scores and finally achieve the goal I set out to do all those years ago!" Gaonondorf said as they quickly got into battle positions.

"Well don't expect us to go down with out a fight, after all, we beat Malakie who was almost impossible to injure," Sonic called.

"So then, you were able to beat the one person who could go up against vast armies, but going up against a small group led to his defeat?" Ganondorf asked as he began to float into the air.

"The armies lacked skill and strategy, we have both!" Mega Man replied.

"No matter, this is the second time I was close to both Triforce pieces that I could not obtain all those years ago!" Ganondorf said as he held up his right hand, and three Triforce pieces appeared, but only the top one glowed the brightest, as that was the Triforce of Power. Soon the Triforce marks appeared on the right hands of Link and Princess Zelda. Link then twirled his sword around before pointing it at Ganondorf.

"This time, King of Evil, this time we'll take the Triforce of Power from you!" he yelled. Ganondorf then quickly came down and slammed his fist into the ground and the whole room shook. The floor was made up of huge squares, and the rims of some of them glowed, and Sonic and Princess Zelda were standing right in the middle of one. After the glow faded, the blocks began to sink. Princess Zelda gasped as the block sank a little, and then began to sink faster.

"WHOA!" Sonic yelled as he scooped her up and jumped. After he landed Zelda aimed the crossbow and shot at Ganondorf, but he reflected it and it went for Mega Man, but he rolled to the side. He quickly retaliated by firing three shots, Ganondorf was only able to reflect one and got hit by the other two. Ganondorf soon built up energy into one of his fists before throwing a ball of energy at them. But Link reflected it with his sword, but then they wound reflecting it back and forth for a few minutes. When Link hit it again, Sonic quickly did a homing attack and sailed over it and got Ganondorf off guard, which also resulted in his getting hit his own blast. Mega Man was building up a charge during the whole thing, so while Ganondorf was dazed he shot at him and made a direct hit which sent him flipping backwards. He managed to land on his feet but fell to his knees due to how he was still dazed a bit, which left him open to a barrage of skillful sword swings from Link. After taking a few good hits, he managed to make an energy shield which knocked Link backwards and almost sent him down one of the holes that was made, but he caught himself on the ledge. Ganondorf didn't bother to go back into the air because he pulled out a huge broadsword. Sheik got in front of him, and ducked his swings a few times before he hit him with a few kung fu styled moves. He then quickly tossed a smoke pellet which temporarily blinded Ganondorf. This also left him open for Sonic to plow into his legs from the front, and while he fell forward, Mega Man dashed forward and nailed him in the chin with a powerful uppercut, which made Ganondorf flip backwards a few times before landing on his stomach. Ganondorf quickly got up and swung at Mega Man, but he stopped the swing by grabbing his arm, quickly kicking him in the stomach, hitting him with a right hook, an upper cut, a few blows to the stomach, and finished with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. After hitting the ground hard, Ganondorf staggered to his feet, and Mega Man hit him full force with another high charged blast. This badly burned his flesh, and made cracks in his armor, and after the attack was done, Link charged in and slashed him in the throat, two vertical slashes at the chest, and did a powerful thrust into the chest, and finished with a hard horizontal slash. Ganondorf staggered back as he dropped his sword, and grabbed his two major wounds before falling to his knees.

"How is…this possible? I…the K…king of Evil…defeated so easily…by mortals again? Why…why does this keep happening?" Ganondorf asked.

"A man like you has no right to even be called king, or wield the Triforce of Power," Mega Man replied. Ganondorf then coughed up blood.

"You, a mere mortal from another world, no…I can't believe that, it can't be true." Ganondorf then screamed when there was a loud crack and blood cussed out from his upper back.

"We didn't hit there!" Sonic said.

"Its old wounds that were inflicted upon him many years ago, they're taking their tolls again," Princess Zelda replied.

"I won't go alone!" Ganondorf yelled as he shot up and energy flowed from his body and made the whole place shake. But the shaking stopped and he fell dead.

"_That_ was scary," Sonic commented. But then the whole place began to shake violently.

"He used this trick before, we have to escape!" Princess Zelda said.

"Not yet," Mega Man replied as he bolted for the casket. He grabbed hold of the lid and flung it open, and the lid sailed into the wall and shattered. Mega Man then quickly scooped up Queen Zelda and just as he turned around one of the pillars began to topple over.

"YEEP!" Sonic screamed as he jumped out of the way, and the pillar hit and only broke into a few big pieces as well as making a series of crack in the floor. After that a part the pedestal where the casket rested opened and silver arrows fell out.

"The Enchanted Silver Arrows!" Princess Zelda exclaimed as she quickly ran over and gathered them up before they made a break for it. A few of the block in the floor almost fell down instantly, but they managed to jump over the gaps and avoid the falling derbies. A door that they came across that wouldn't open before now opened as if to help them escape. On one of the many paths they had to escape on, it would begin to break apart from the rest of the path, but they still made is across, and Sonic scooped up Princess Zelda as one part she was running on broke and she began to fall but he got her before she and the path fell completely. During one room they had entered, Sonic and Mega Man got enclosed inside some barriers and Link and Sheik had to battle some heavy suits of armor to free them. Soon they were running on a bridge that was over one of the many courtyards they went through, only this time, the courtyard was a sea of flames. They managed to make it past every hazard thrown at them, but at one point, they had to leave the path because it got blocked off and they had to travel the very edge of the fortress, which overlooked what appeared to be a bottomless chasm. They reached the top of a tower, and it began to fall towards the entrance, and it smashed the entrance without any of them getting hurt, and they escaped before the whole place fell apart, which made a lost of dust which they had to shield their faces from. After the whole place had collapsed, they looked at what was left of the place, which wasn't much.

"Come on, we still have to find Ganondorf's body and take the Triforce of Power from it," Mega Man said. They followed him to the area where the biggest tower was and were about to start digging until there was a loud boom like a huge piece of rubble falling over.

"It can't be!" Princess Zelda exclaimed. Soon a firewall formed around the whole remains of the castle, sealing them in. Mega Man ran off and Placed Queen Zelda in a safe spot from the battle that was about to ensue. Soon Ganondorf burst out of the rubble, and his eyes glowed an unholy glow. He then held up his hand and the Triforce of Power glowed brightly again, and he then let out a loud yell as his whole body got enveloped in a bright yellow light which grew huge. As the light faded they were no longer looking at Ganondorf, but the Demon King Ganon. Ganon looked like a giant demonic humanoid boar with loose robes that matched the colors he was wearing before. Huge horns formed on the sides of his mouth and two giant swords appeared in his hands. He looked at them before letting out a loud mighty roar.

"So you've taken the form of the demon within yourself, well, it's time this war ended, don't you agree?" Mega Man asked as he pointed his buster. Ganon just roared again before stomping towards them. Each step shook the whole place, but not enough to hinder their movements. After he was close enough to Link, he slowed his pace bit; only lightly moving his legs. He took a mighty right swing with his left arm, and Link just barley back flipped out of the way as the blade just went under him. After he landed Ganon took a leap and was going to do a hard horizontal with his right arm, and Link just jumped to the side, and when the blade hit, it really shook the place as well as sending out large pieces of the ground and remains of the fortress. Link then ran up and slashed at him while he was still down in a sense, but his blade just clanged against his flesh. Princess Zelda shrieked when Ganon nailed Link with his tail. Mega Man ran at Ganon, and Ganon swung hard, but Mega Man dove forward and did a flip off the blade and got Ganon in the face with a left jab, then a blast in the face from the buster. Ganon didn't even flinch either time, and when Mega Man landed, he tried to kick him, but he back flipped, and Once Ganon's leg was fully stretched, and when Mega Man stopped, he tried to stomp him, but Mega Man slid under the foot and right past the other leg. Mega Man then quickly got up and grabbed the tail with his back to it, and pulled with all of his might, and Ganon roared as Mega Man actually lifted him off the ground and flung him where Mega Man was facing. Some of the still standing pillars fell over when Ganon hit the ground. They were all amazed that Mega Man could pull such a feet, he even amazed himself a little. But Ganon was annoyed as he got back to his feet and he stomped his way back over. Mega Man however was going to stay put, so he began to back up, which made Ganon continue to stomp. Sonic then got in front of Mega Man and got Ganon's attention, and got bashed in the face which made him stumble, but not harmed.

"What does it take to injure this guy now?" Sonic asked. But then it struck Mega Man.

"The Silver Arrows!" Mega Man called. Princess Zelda made a slight shock noise, and quickly pulled out one of the arrows and placed it in her crossbow. She aimed it at Ganon, but blinked a few times.

"Where am I supposed to aim at?"

"Try his head!" Sonic called. She then aimed it at his head as Sonic and Mega Man backed up, making him look at them so as not to see the attack coming. She held her breath before she pulled the trigger, and the arrow sailed through the air and got Ganon right in the center of the face which made him rear his head back in pain. Link ran over to Mega Man, and Mega Man gave him a jump boost and Link came down with his sword pointed at Ganon's head and he impaled it. Ganon's thrashed his head back and forth until Link flew off, but he landed softly. They repeated this pattern for a good while. That is until Gaonon got smart and managed to get over to Zelda and badly injure the heroes in the attempt. When Sheik was the only one really left that could move fast, he made an attempt to try and jab one of the arrows into Ganon's heart, but Ganon got him with a real fierce swing. Zelda tried to make room for her by running away from Ganon, and turned around and took aim, but he did a leap and did a vertical swing which just missed her, but hit the ground and sent her flying backwards. This also resulted in the crossbow flying farther than her, and also losing the arrows. She was flipping backwards and landed on one foot before the rest of her hit the ground. She shook her head a little and saw Ganon coming for her, she quickly looked around and saw the crossbow with an arrow next to it quiet a bit behind her. She went to turn around while getting up, but her right foot didn't move; it had gotten wedged into a crack that was made in the floor. She tugged at her ankle a few times, but Ganon was almost there already. She took once quick glance around and saw a spear near her, she quickly reached for it a grabbed it and tossed it at Ganon and got him right in the knee which made his stop for a bit. She quickly wiggled her foot a little and got it out of the shoe and she made a break for the crossbow and got to it and placed the arrow before Ganon even started moving again. She wanted to get more space between him and her, but her back was already to the firewall. She took very careful aim and got him in the heart, but he was still alive. Mega Man managed to get between them and aimed right at Ganon.

"This ends here and now!" Mega Man said as huge amounts of energy sparked all over the place as his buster built up power. "DIE!" And a huge beam, even huger than the first two, came out and plowed right into Ganon, and something flew away as Ganon roared in pain. His roars ended and he disintegrated before the beam vanished. Mega Man was taking deep breathes as he lowed he buster, and the firewall vanished.

"You have the power to…to destroy even the gods!" Princess Zelda exclaimed.

"They're lesser gods Princess, they're lesser gods, they're not like the one true God," Mega Man replied.

"Well anyway, what flew off of him when you nailed him with that blast?" Sonic asked.

"We'll find it in a little bit," Mega Man replied as he walked over to where he place Queen Zelda. He picked her up and walked back over.

"Well here it is," Sheik called. They looked and at his feet in the ground was a triangle and there was a faint glow to it.

"Is that the Triforce of Power?" Sonic asked. It then began to glow brighter and brighter, and the marks on both Link and Princess Zelda's hands glowed too. Soon the one in the ground lifted and the bright mark on their hands left and they all floated towards Queen Zelda, and they floated around her and Mega Man a little bit, and then they gathered and placed themselves into her right. Her body then glowed a bright yellow, and it soon faded, and her gentle blue eyes slowly opened. They blinked a few times as she looked at the sky, which soon cleared of the dark energy and an interesting hue began to cover the area. Her eyes then set upon Mega Man, and a smile came across his face.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked.

"No longer, your Majesty, no longer," Mega Man replied. She then looked over and saw the others. Princess Zelda and Sheik then knelt down, and Link and Sonic quickly followed.

"My queen," Sheik said with great elegance.

"Queen?" Queen Zelda asked. She then looked at the back of her hand, and saw all three Triforce marks glowing brightly. "So I was next in line." She then saw Midna walking over with quite a few of her followers.

"You have done well, heroes, without the Triforce of Power in his hand, Ganondorf will never return, ever," Midna said.

"You, you're the Twili!" Princess Zelda exclaimed.

"It has been a long time, and now that peace can be fully restored, I would like to live together like we used to," Queen Zelda said. Her eyes then went to Mega Man. "You can set me down now." Mega Man blushed a little.

"Sorry," Mega Man said as he set her down.

"So the prince back then wasn't the next in line, but you were?" Link asked.

"My heart is well balanced, like the very first king, unlike his son, but what is done is done, the damage has been repaired, and we can live in peace again," Queen Zelda replied. A few hours went by, and our heroes along with a few others were at the center of Castle town, and Queen Zelda was hidden in a cluster of Twili, and the king embraced his daughter.

"Are you alright?" he then asked.

"I'm alright father, I'm alright. Father, there are two people I want you all to meet," Princess Zelda said. Midna walked forward.

"The Twili, I read about you in our history!" the king said.

"It has been a long time since us Twili have walked in the world of light, but I must say, even though I like being welcomed back, there is someone that deserves it more than I," Midna said. She then gave a quick hand gesture, and the group of Twili opened up, and Queen Zelda walked out, at first, everyone just looked at her not knowing how to act.

"Who is this person?" the king asked. But then he looked more closely at her. "My word!"

"I am the very first one to be called Zelda, am I the next to rule this land, and here is my proof!" Queen Zelda said as she showed the back of her hand, and the Triforce glowed brighter then ever before. Everyone gasped in shock and amazement; they all quickly got on their knees and bowed down. The knights held out their weapons as they knelt, and the king removed his crown.

"I was to be next in line for the throne years ago, not my brother, but he felt that being the son, he was next in line, and in normal kingdoms, that is how it is done, but not here, the Triforce chooses who is to be next in line, and the next ruler might not be of royal blood, it might just be an ordinary peasant, a farmer, even a Twili, who ever has a well balanced heart when the current ruler dies. I vow to rule this kingdom like the first king did, with wisdom, courage, and power. When I die, be sure to ask the Triforce of Wisdom who the next ruler is, and the same mistake will never be repeated, this I promise you," Queen Zelda stated. There was only a brief moment of silence just in case she had anything else to say, but she had nothing, and thus everyone began to cheer and yell, for today was truly a happy day. Many hours went by as festivities happened, and everyone was happy. In the courtyard of the castle, Princess Zelda was with Jonathan and his family, while Sonic and Link had fun. Mega Man was happy too, but he knew he had to leave.

"I wish it were other wise, but I know you must go," Queen Zelda said. Mega Man looked back and saw her dressed in a queen's gown, and she even had on a fancy crown that complimented her head nicely.

"Is there anything you can tell me before I leave? You have the Triforce of Wisdom after all," Mega Man asked. A smile came across her face.

"I can't tell you much, but I can tell you that you will meet someone who will help rid you of the darkness within you, and that person will make you very happy in the future," Queen Zelda replied.

"Anything else?"

"There is one more thing; you must find two men, one has the soul of the spider, and one has the soul of the bat, find them, work with them, work together in any problem that comes your way."

"Is that it?"

"That is all I can tell you without giving away too much of the future."

"I understand." Mega Man then left, but not before kissing her hand, and saying goodbye to the princess.

"You have gained much knowledge, and you know how to use it," the Triforce of Wisdom said in her head.

"I wish I could tell him more, but I can't, I can't tell him that he'll meet one of his children, his only daughter." Once Mega Man was back in his world, he had a rocket ship built, for he knew he had to travel the stars, and the ship was very fast, fast enough to get him to where he needed to go, for he had many things he must go through, before he reaches the planet where he once was at one time, the earth where the Earth Kingdom and Moon Kingdom were, he had a long journey ahead of him, not just the travel, but the path of battle.

End chapter 11


	12. An old Foe Returns

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 12

An old Foe Returns

Notes "This chapter gets a bit violent at one point, so this chapter is not for kids and those who don't like blood and gore, so I hope you enjoy."

Many days went by after Mega Man and his two friends, Link and Sonic, beat Ganondorf and saved the land of Hyrule. During one of those days, Mega Man returned Sonic to his world, and Mega Man then returned to his world, and had a ship built, so he could travel the stars. Space isn't a very eventful place, if you exclude the planets moving. But one thing seems to be happening at the moment; a small streak of light was zipping through space, past the planets, past some asteroids, just going by at great speeds, and at the tip of the light was a small ship. The days seem to have melded together since Mega Man left his planet, nothing really to do, but he couldn't complain, this is the quietest things have been in days to him. His ship was very fast, he had covered well over nine thousand miles in less than five minutes the first day, so he was making very good time he figured. His thoughts often drifted to how Sonic was doing, and how things were going in his world, true they beat Robotnick together, but it appeared that despite how many times he is defeated, nothing seems to stop his ways of evil. How similar his and Sonic's world are he thought, or rather how similar they are, they both have mad men trying to rule the world with technology, but only so far the things that Wily has tried weren't as extreme as Robotnick, as he unleashed Chaos, a being of great power and destruction. Mega Man figured that Chaos just used Robotnick to get the Chaos Emeralds so he could take his revenge on the world, but thanks to Mega Man and Sonic's efforts, they stopped him and saved him from his darkness. Many hours went by with almost nothing happening, but then a planet with technology showed up on his monitor, and he had been going for about twenty days, and his fuel was getting a bit low. So without any other option, he set course for the planet. He soon reached the planet and went through the atmosphere and just after a few minutes, he saw what appeared to be a colony. He could see many workers and some armed men, which he figured were guards for an outside attack as they didn't interact with the workers unless necessary. It was some kind of mining area from what he could tell, and he soon landed where the ships dock, as there was a huge ship docked there and a load of people were coming out. When he came out, most of the people were a little surprised.

'They must not get a lot of visitors here,' he thought. A young man about mid to late thirties walked over to him.

"We don't get many visitors, what brings a person like you here?" he asked. He looked strong, and he had a little bit of stubble on his face.

"You can call me Mega Man, I'm just passing through but I need fuel for my ship, its running kind of low," Mega Man replied.

"Mega Man? Is that some kind of code name?" the man asked.

"Yeah, but you can call me Rock," Mega Man replied.

"The names Rod Aran, nice to meet you," Rod replied.

'Aran? Why does that name sound familiar?' Mega Man asked in his head. He also noticed that this Rod looked familiar, but he couldn't understand why, of course it was because Rod looked like his great, great grandfather, Jacob Aran, just older, which is why the memory in Mega Man's head is having trouble fully kicking in. At that moment, a young woman with long hair tied in a pony tail ran up while calling Rod.

"Oh, Virginia, what's up? What're you doing out of the house?" Rod asked.

"I brought you lunch!" Virginia replied with a smile as she held out a container.

"What? You didn't need to do that," Rod replied.

"Don't give me that, you need to eat," Virginia said. "You've been so busy recently, you haven't slept in weeks!"

"Hehe, I suppose…but this Afloraltite is necessary for planetary trade!" Rod replied as he placed his hand on a huge crate next to him. "I want to see the galaxy thrive! I'm prepared to make a sacrifice or two." Mega Man felt a little awkward, so he stepped back a bit. Virginia always seemed to smile, but the way her eyes changed showed how she felt.

"But you have to keep our family happy to. Promise you'll stay healthy," she asked. There was a bit of silence for a moment.

"Yeah, I guess, I promise. For my family, for you Virginia, and for Samus," Rod said.

"By the way, who is this?" Virginia asked.

"This is Rock, he is just passing through, he needs some fuel for his ship," Rod replied.

"By the way, is there somewhere I should go while I wait, or can I have a look around?" Mega Man asked.

"So long as you don't cause trouble," Rod said with a smirk.

"I have no intention of causing trouble, it's not in my nature to do that, to those I've have sworn to protect," Mega Man replied as he left. He wandered around for a little bit, and when he was close to the edge of the colony where he could see the trees fully, he heard a little girl, scream "AHH! Not here! That's mine give it back! GEEZ, what a bad boy!" Mega Man peeked over the fence and saw a little girl with blond hair trying to jump into a tree, as there was a little furry animal that he had never seen before sitting on the highest branch, and it was holding a little bag which he figured belonged to the girl. The animal looked like a squirrel, with rabbit ears.

"Sure is a cute little stinker," he commented. Then two other kids ran over while calling "Hey Samus!" she looked over as they ran up.

"What are you doing over here? There's big news!" one said.

"Everyone's going to the docks!" another said.

"A new ship came!"

"It looks kinda weird, they called it the "Chozo ship"!"

'The _Chozo_?' Mega Man asked in his head.

"Huh? Where, where?" Samus asked with excitement as her light-blue eyes widened with joy. Mega Man had just came from there, so he knew the way, so he quickly used his dash ability to get there, when he got there, he saw a huge crowd, and in front of them, were a few hooded figures, with two fingered hands that were an interesting color and shape.

"_WHAT_!? You want us to just hand over the Afloraltite over to you!?" the man in front asked.

"No. We're not saying that…we urgently need to borrow some," one of the hooded figures said as he held out his hand.

"But..."

"We have found no other place to procure it." At that moment Rod was getting through the crowed.

"Ah, sorry, coming through. Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

"Uh. Chief Aran, that's…" one of his men tried to say.

"If you're in observance with the Galactic Treaty, then you should be aware that Afloraltite is to be left under Federation Supervision! I can't just…why? Why are the 'Chozo' so eager for it all of a sudden?" Rod asked.

'There is something more to this then meets the eye,' Mega Man thought. Then at that moment he heard the kids running over. 'Ah, nuts, this will complicate things.'

"Hey, wait up Samus!" a kid called.

"I'm not gonna lose to you!" Samus replied. As she wasn't really watching where she was going, she ran into one of the hooded figures, a slightly shorter one, which resulted in his hood falling off. Mega Man stared a little bit, the head of this Chozo looked like an elderly bird.

"Samus, no! You're not allowed here!" Rod called.

"Oh, papa!" Samus said in shock.

"Oh my, what an energetic little one. Are you hurt?" the old Chozo asked. He didn't seem fazed by the hit at all.

"Uh…no," Samus replied nervously.

"Is this your first time meeting a Chozo?" he then asked. Samus remained in an awkward silence. "There's nothing to fear, we many look different, but inside, we have the same 'heart' that you do, so be at ease."

'Well, these about the most friendliest bunch of aliens I've ever seen, and they look like birds, or have bird like heads, which make them look kind of pleasant,' Mega Man thought.

"I am called old bird, but you can call me grandpa bird if you'd like. Would you like to be friends?" Old bird asked.

"I'm Samus Aran, 3 years old. And yeah!" Samus replied. She then took a firm grip of his hand. "Hey, hey!" This way! Help me please!"

"Hm? Ah, very well," Old bird replied. He seemed kind of eager to go.

"AH! S…Samus, wait!" Rod called.

"Uh, old bird…" the now lone Chozo began to call rather uneasy.

"Ah, sorry, Gray voice. Please continue the negotiations," Old bird called as he went out of view. Gray voice then removed his hood with a rather uneasy expression on his face, and he looked like a much younger bird.

"That girl will be the death of me," Rod stated as he rubbed his head.

"I'll go see what they're up, go on with what you're doing," Mega Man called as he ran off. A few moments later and they were back at the clump of trees where that cute little "stinker" was at, and he still had the bag in his mouth.

"Huh? You can't fly!?" Samus asked rather bewildered. It wasn't a surprise to Mega Man really, as he couldn't see any wings on them at all.

"That's right. We lost our wings long ago. I'm sorry," Old bird replied.

"Then I guess you're just like me. What'll I do, I need it back. That bad boy…he…" Samus almost finished, but Old bird caught something and cut in.

"hm, perhaps he refuses to come down because he thinks you're angry with him. Why not make friends with him as we did earlier? Let's start by giving him a name!" Old bird said with a smile on his face.

"Huh? A name?" Samus asked before going into thought. Mega Man thought it was funny how some kids go into heavy thought.

"How about…Pyonchi!" Samus stated.

"PEE CHEE!" the animal squeaked. They all glanced at it for a moment, then back at each other.

"I think you made a new friend," Mega Man said. And they all began to laugh as Pyonchi squeaked more and more. Some time went by, and soon they were back at the Chozo ship.

"We have a great respect for the Chozo. However that has no bearing on this matter. I don't know why you need it so badly, and I must now before I can give it to you!" Rod replied.

"No, no. I understand that the Federation has left this very important task in your hands," Gray voice said.

"I humbly apologize for troubling you. I ask that you please forgive our rudeness," Old bird said.

"You're going already? But we just started being friends…" Samus said she held Pyonchi.

"Y…yes, I'm afraid I have a very important job to do," Old bird replied.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Mega Man asked.

"No, I'm afraid there isn't," Old bird replied. Soon after they were back on the ship, it soon took off for space, before Samus called, "Grandpa Bird, come back soon!" At the head of the ship, things were uneasy.

"We knew it wouldn't work, but we don't have nearly enough energy without the Afloraltite," the pilot said.

"Yes, and we must rush _The Plan_ as well," Old bird replied. "We must not allow the Metroid to remain dormant!"

"More time passes as the X are left out there unopposed!" Gray voice stated.

"That can't be helped. We have to somehow stop it before the Galactic Federation finds out," Old bird replied. Unaware to them, they were followed by a huge ship. Its shape was unnatural, and it soon dispatched many small ships. And watching from a spot on the ship was a dragon like figure, sitting there, watching out the window as his long tail with a sharp point at the end swished. Though his limbs looked thin, he was stronger than he looked. He was a purple bluish color. And his eyes a yellowish-red. His name…was Ridley, the same Ridley that Mega Man went up against while he was human, the same Ridley that fought alongside Zoda, and the same Ridley that killed him and his mother, Though Ridley was killed back then, his remains were preserved, and when it was possible, his followers resurrected him, with all his strength, his wounds healed, and his memory intact, he was ready for revenge.

"Why did Old bird go to such a backwater planet?" he asked.

"Lord Ridley! We've detected a large energy source. It's Afloraltite, we believe there is a Galactic Federation mining team there as well," a space pirate called over a speaker.

"Whaa…?! WHAT? Afloraltite… A-HA! I see. I thought there might be something there…" Ridley said gleefully.

"This is exactly what we were after, we've found something worthwhile," another space pirate said. Back down on the surface of the planet, onboard the ship that brought the Afloraltite, things weren't going well.

"Tower, tower, do you copy!? Tower, this is Beatrix III, awaiting permission to taxi, tower please respond!" the pilot called. Rod then came running in.

"Hey, what are you doing? The ship's not taking off!" he called.

"Yeah chief, there's something in the atmosphere blocking communications," the pilot replied.  
"What did you say?"

"What's more, there is something strange about the infrared readings, even the map produced by our external scanners is malfunctioning."

"The map? It says the brightest spot is here, the power facility, so why's it looking for the stars energy source?" But then something snapped in his head, which brought a horrible thought. "Oh no! Emergency! Sound the alarm! Dispatch a federation emergency signal!"

"Wh…what is it?"

"Scan the area and cut the power! Seal off the compound! Remember your training!"

"Huh? Th…that means…"

"Contact all personnel in the vicinity! They're coming…Space Pirates." Elsewhere, in a small open patch in the forest, Mega Man was with Samus and Pyonchi.

"So mister Mega Man, what do you do?" Samus asked.

"Me? I guess you would call me a protector, a fighter."

"A protector? A fighter? Who do you protect and fight?"

"I protect those who haven't forsaken their humanity I guess you would say, and I fight those who have."

"What's humanity?"

"I guess the best example of those who haven't forsaken their humanity, would be you, your parents, the colony, and the Chozo."

"What about Pyonchi and other animals?"

"Well, that all depends on how the animals behave, if they don't attack people then they're alright in my book. But should an animal or pack of animals attack people, then those should be disposed of, just that animal or pack, unless the rest pose as threats." Then at that moment, there was a faint boom in the distance. They looked over and saw a huge cloud wise where the compound was. A split second later, they were almost knocked off their feet when a huge gust of wind blew through the area and shook the trees and knocked a few leaves off of them.

"What was that?" Samus asked.

"I don't know, but you should stay here, I'll go see what happened, and rescue any survivors," Mega Man replied as he dashed off with his right arm turning into his Mega Buster. Not to far from the explosion area, a whole mess of ships were flying around the ship that followed the Chozo, and Ridley was flying amongst them.

"Alright, the power's been cut off! We're going to the starport next! Let's go kill them!" Ridley called to the ship next to him.

"Roger lord Ridley!"

"But pay attention and be careful about that Afloraltite. If you hit a high energy source with your beams, there's no escaping the blast. Begin by silencing everyone on this planet. Cut them to bits!"

"We haven't seen flesh and blood in awhile!"

"First relish in the slaughter, we can take our time collecting the spoils later!" Soon Mega Man arrived at the compound, and saw many people were already dead, including the women and children. He went over to one of the bodies, but there was no sign of life, not even heavy breathing, or faint moans of pain, nothing.

'How could so many people be killed so fast?' he wondered. He recalled running through a field of dead corpses like this before on two different occasions, one was on the Moon Kingdom, but the other he couldn't quiet remember fully yet.

'Whoever did this is gonna get it!' he thought as he got up. At that moment, something grabbed him from behind and tried to bit into his neck, but didn't damage anything because Mega Man was a robot, so he then grabbed what behind him and tossed it forward, and saw it was a humanoid like being with pincers for hands.

'He bit me, the maniac bit me!' he thought as he rubbed his neck. The space pirate then got up, and Mega Man got the whole picture, and caused another memory to come back, he remembered the other slaughters, which was the first one and last one. He remembered Zoda, and how he killed his king, and he now remembered Ridley, and how Ridley had killed him when he fought. He then remembered almost his whole colony, except his mother for some reason, and he now knew why Rod looked so familiar, he is Jacob's great, great son. The space pirate lunged at him, but he grabbed him by the neck and held him at bay.

"You…lousy…murderous…freaks!" he yelled as he took a firm grip on the pirates head and yanked with all his might, and ripped his head right off. Mega Man killed every space pirate that came his way by either shooting them, or beating them to death. He took out quiet a few before they stopped attacking for a moment or two. Ridley sat in one spot as he watched the destruction going on around him. He then heard some footsteps and glanced back and saw Mega Man leap through the flames and landed not to far away. Mega Man took a look through the corner of his eye and saw Ridley looking at him.

"Ridley!" Mega Man yelled as he charged for Ridley. Ridley just barley avoided Mega Man's attack and had no idea how he knew his name.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" Ridley asked.

"You attacked my colony twice, your master murdered our king, you almost killed all the Argonians, and you killed me!"

"I killed you? Then how are you…" Ridley paused for a few moments as he looked more closely at him. "You're that boy I killed all those years ago! HAHAHA! That was well over a life time ago! Or rather a few life times, like well over a few millenniums to be more accurate."

"You must be really old to last that long."

"Bah, I died after your mother nearly killed me after I killed you, as a matter of fact she did in a sense, because of all the wounds she inflicted upon me before I got her too. Heck, now that I think about it, she cost me an eye too."

"If you lost an eye, then how do you still have both? Or is that a fake eye?"

"My eye is not fake; my followers preserved my remains for many long years, until they revived me and healed all my wounds. I am proud of them for lasting so long without a real leader amongst them."

"I've heard enough about you and your "followers" last time! Your no colony, your no empire, you're just a murderous bunch of lunatics that survived way to long!" Mega Man shouted as he blasted Ridley in the chest which floored him.

"Your insults are starting to get on my nerves boy," Ridley said as he got back up.

"It's about time we finished what we started all those millenniums ago don't you think?"

"I couldn't agree more, leaving loose ends around isn't how things should be done at all, so it is about time we settled things once and for all!" Ridley replied as he swung his arm at Mega Man, who just jumped backwards and avoided the blow with ease. Ridley then swung his tail at him, but he just ducked and fired a few shots which hit. Ridley then swung both arms at him and just missed as Mega Man jumped over the swings and nailed him in the face with a punch. They went at each other for a few good minutes, and soon Ridley finely landed quiet a few blows on Mega Man. Ridley then tried to impale Mega Man with his tail, but Mega Man grabbed it, and nailed him with a charged shot, but Ridley then retaliated by landed one hard claw slash which knocked the wind out of Mega Man. Ridley stood over him as he slowly propped himself up and took big breaths.

"I have to say, you've grown quiet a bit stronger since we last fought, but you're still not good enough to take me out of the picture yet," Ridley commented as he then impaled Mega Man in the chest, and soon let him fall flat onto the ground. But then something caught his attention, a faint sound of footsteps could be heard and when he looked, something small was coming through the smoke. "Poppa, momma, where are you? What's wrong? What happened?!" It was Samus, Mega Man realized. She then cleared the smoke and got clear sight of Ridley and froze. He looked at her and she looked at him, while there were booms and screams going on.

"Lord Ridley, we've captured the facility, and we've begun transporting the containers," a space pirate called as he ran over.

"Good," Ridley replied.

"A…are you Mister Ridley?" Samus asked. Ridley looked back at her a little surprised. "I...I'm Samus, th…three years old, you're not scary…I'm perfectly fine…e..even if you look different, w…we can still be friends," Samus said with tears welling up in her eyes. Mega Man could see she was fighting back the fear, though she was almost scared out of her mind, and he then noticed that Ridley actually had a sad expression on his face.

'Could she have reached him? Could she have found a bit of kindness in his heart?' Mega Man wondered.

"You're a cute little girl, it's too bad but, that's impossible because…" Ridley started before standing up fully and he towered way over her and Mega Man, with his wings outstretched and his arm high. "You're going to die!"

"AHHHH!!!!" Samus screamed.

"Samus!" Virginia called.

"MOMA!" Samus called back.

"Now that the Afloraltite is in our hands, there's no reason to hold back! Burn everything!" Ridley yelled before he shot out a huge blast of plasma from his mouth in a concentrated beam right at Samus, but her mother pushed her out of the way in time, but got killed herself.

"MOMAAAA!" Samus yelled.

"Now it's your turn." But then something grabbed his tail. "It can be…" Mega Man had taken hold of his tail and held it tight and pulled so there was a lot of tension at the base of the tail.

"You'll… do…nothing!" he yelled as he yanked with all his might and tossed Ridley far behind him. A little after the ground shook from the impact, Mega Man collapsed. Elsewhere, inside the cargo ship with the Afloraltite, was Rod. He could hear the laughing of many space pirates as he held what looked like a weapon.

"Darn, I snuck onto their cargo ship, but what now? I can't let them leave with even this small amount of afloraltite, but it doesn't look like the Federation will get here in time, what should I do?" he asked out loud. But then two space pirates found him.

"Hey human, what're you doing there!?" one asked.

"How did you get in!?" the other asked.

"Dang!" Rod exclaimed.

"HAHAHA! What the heck, isn't that a welding laser used for repairs? What can you do with that toy? Die!" the first space pirate said as he was about to lunge.

"GAH! Wait! If he hits the Afloraltite, it'll blow!"

"What? GAH!"

"Heh heh heh, that's right you crab freaks, looks like the soup between your ears is actually good for something," Rod said, before he set the barrel of the laser to the crate next to him.

"AHHH! Fool, what are you doing?! Don't'!" the first space pirate said.  
"If you do that, you'll die too!"

"Sorry Virginia, it seems like this is my only choice!" Rod said. He then pulled the trigger. "I love you! Samus!" And then the whole ship blew to pieces. AT that moment or so, Ridley was back at destroying things with his plasma blast, until he saw the explosion in the distance.

"What!? Why is my ship on fire!?" A split second later and he was almost killed by the blast as it went fairly far. "H…hey, are you kidding me!?" A few hours later, and the Space Pirates had left, and the place was still burning. Walking among the ruble, were Old bird, and Gray voice.

"How terrible," Old bird said.

"The emergency signal to the Federation Police, I know it was sent from K-2L, but I never thought it would be this bad," Gray voice said.

"Everything's been destroyed, it's probably the work of the Space Pirates. Complete annihilation. Not even one survivor…" But then a familiar sound reached his ears. "Pee choo." Old bird then looked over and saw two shapes in front of the setting sun. "Oh..th…that's….I…I don't believe it!" The figure then became clear, and stooped, one figure was Pyonchi, and the other was Samus dragging Mega Man.

"Grandpa bird? Samus called.

"Samus!" Old bird exclaimed. Many long hours went by, and soon Samus on Zebes, the second planet from the star FS-176. She was sitting outside one of the buildings, the one where Old bird was to be precise.

"Old bird! What were you thinking by bringing a human child back here!?" Gray voice asked.

"What are you saying, Gray voice? Would you prefer that we left her there to die!?" Old bird asked.

"N…no, I didn't mean that. But…it's just…" Gray voice didn't get to finish.

"Humans lack the ability to adapt to Zebes. It will be necessary to keep restricted to Brinstar and Crateria," a female computer voice said.

"Mother Brain," Old bird acknowledged the floating round sphere that entered the room, which looked like a mechanical eyeball.

"Th…that's right, we don't have the means to take care of her…" Gray voice said. Then Samus was at the edge of the doorway which entered the room.

"Grandpa…" she said.

"Ah, Samus," old bird said.

"There aren't any kids here. Where are my friends?" Samus asked. She then noticed the sphere that floated right next to her head.

"It's ok Samus. It won't harm you. It's the interface of the computer that oversees this planet. Mother Brain the noticed how Samus began to shake and quiver.

"As expected, this weak creature is incapable of living in Zebes' harsh environment. I do not expect her to survive more than a few days…" Mother Brain was cut off.

"Uh, no. It's fine now, Mother. Actually, there _is_ as way," Old bird said. Many hours went by, and there was nothing but blackness, just blackness, no sound or light. Until there was a spark of light, and soon the whole area lit up, and there was a faint humming sound. Soon everything cleared, and Mega Man was looking at a vine covered ceiling. He was on a table and there were a few Chozo looking over him.

"You're one lucky machine," one said.

"How so?" Mega Man asked. "Wait a minute, where am I? Where's Samus?"

"She's alright, we found her dragging you along, and you were pretty banged up. We managed to repair you and alter you body a bit."

"Alter my body? What did you do?"

"Nothing to spectacular, but we managed to alter you components so you can slowly heal over time, so you won't have to worry about having to have a major repair job like we had to do just now. You were out of it for a good while, but you appear to be running properly, even though for some reason you don't have a cpu chip."

"Let's just say I'm more than machine. But what else did you do?"

"Nothing else, but I should note, all you need to be repaired fully should you get really badly damaged is to just have metal parts added to you and your body will alter them and every chip and cord will come back to those parts."

"Now back to my first question, where is Samus?"

"I can se you won't rest until you've seen her, come with me." Mega Man followed him a ways into the building, until they entered a large room with a huge, odd looking device in the middle. Once Mega Man got closer, he saw that the middle part of the device was a round sphere filled with glowing water, and he could see something curled up inside.

"What are you doing to her?" Mega Man demanded.

"Something that has to be done, if she is to hope to survive living here," Old bird replied.

"By doing what exactly?" Mega Man asked.

"By implanting our D.N.A into her. My D.N.A to be precise," Gray voice replied.

"_Your_ D.N.A?" Mega Man asked absolutely bewildered.

"Of course, Old bird's D.N.A is too old, and I have the youngest here, also the strongest."

"I guess it's alright then, if this will help here to survive, but wouldn't this sort of make her…"

"In a way it does make her my daughter in way."

"But why did you think it was necessary to alter her genetic code?"

"Three reasons. One, you have a duty to perform elsewhere; we can feel a heavy responsibility has been placed upon you. Two, you don't have time to waist trying to find a place for her. Three, this part of the universe will need a protector, and with our help, she will become that protector."

"I see."

"We did manage to savage your ship and give it some fuel. It may not be a lot, but it should get you to the next planet with some fuel on it."

"Thanks. By the way, seeing as to how things have turned out, I have a small request if possible." A few days went by, and Samus finally awoke on a lab table, the process was a success, her genetic code was altered with no negative side affects. She saw almost everyone except one person.

"Where is Mega Man?" she asked. Old bird then walked over to her with something small in his hand.

"This will explain better than I," Old bird replied as he handed the object over. It was a small round ball with a button on it, so she pressed it and a small holographic image of Mega Man appeared.

"Samus, by the time you see this message, I will have long left this planet Zebes, for I have a mission I must complete elsewhere. You will be safe with the Chozo now, for they are now your family. I am sorry I couldn't stay longer to say goodbye to you personally, but time is not something I can spare at the moment. This may come as a shock to you, but you must become the protector of this part of the universe, to make sure no one else becomes like you or me. You must be wondering why I included myself, but I have a past that I can't fully remember, but I knew your great, great, grandparents, many long years ago. I was apart of your colony in another life, a great many millenniums ago, and I faced Ridley back then too. I'm going to make a promise to you, just as soon as I'm done with a part of my mission, I will come back and finish off Ridley, and if possible, we'll do it together. I realize I'm asking something big of you, but you have to be strong, or else our colony, our kingdom, will be fully destroyed by the Space Pirates, the same Space Pirates that attacked us many years ago. This isn't just some random raids or attacks anymore; this is turning into a personal battle that will probably lead to an all out war. I would like to think otherwise, but we might be the only ones that can put a stop to it when that time comes. The Space Pirates show no mercy anymore, there just animals that act on selfish instincts, for their own gains. I have to warn you, while hatred and revenge are sure to enter you, don't lose your soul, or else you'll become what I'm fighting against, what _we're_ fighting against, I don't want to lose you, or anyone else, your all I have left of my former home, my former family, my lost life. Be strong Samus, and never lose your heart, I want to believe we'll see each other again, for we both have to be strong, and survive, and evolve, and lead the generations to a better tomorrow, this I want to believe, what I'll always believe," Mega Man said, and the image soon faded away. Some tears welled up in Samus's eyes, but she didn't cry, she knew she had to be strong. Elsewhere, Mega Man was in his ship, still flying in the direction her figured was best to go.

"I want to believe that we can live in a time of peace, where we don't have to point weapons at each other, where we have to kill each other, our friends, our allies, our family, I never want to point my weapon at those I have fought alongside with, but if I have to, I will pull the trigger, though it will pain me greatly, I can't let those that have forsaken their humanity to live, but I must try and save them, but if they leave me no choice, I will kill them. For I am aware that, sometimes, the price for peace…is often high," Mega Man said as his ship continued on in the blackness of space.

End Chapter 12


	13. Their First Meeting

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 13

Their First Meeting

The memories of his last encounter with the Space Pirates were going through his head. He could barely believe that Ridley was still alive, even after all these long years since they last met. "Was this fate?" he wondered. True, their fates were tethered together more than they realized, how the battle between them would finally end, he also wondered. The answer lied with two sisters.

Mega Man's ship was running dangerously low on fuel, but a planet with highly advanced technology showed up on his radar, so he didn't have to worry too much. He soon cleared the atmosphere, and in just a nick of time, as his fuel just ran out.

"Blasted Space Pirates!" Mega Man yelled. True, it was their fault, had they not attacked the planet he was on before, he would have gotten the amount of fuel he needed, but instead, he got just barely enough. His ship soon crashed in an open spot in a forest area. It wasn't that badly damaged, but it would need a little repair job. He had to give the door a good shove to open it, and he took a quick look around the area.

The leaves on the trees were a bright green, as were the grass and bushes. He was about to get out of the ship, when he heard something running fairly fast nearby. Looking over to his left, he saw something small dressed in robes quickly dashing under the bushes and made them rustle a bit. He quickly went over to the bushes, and took a look past them, and sitting at the base of a tree, was a little girl ragged clothes. She was pretty young; her hair was a short pinkish color, and her eyes a beautiful red color, and her ears were pointed and stuck straight up. He also noticed a collar around her neck that was the same color as her hair, and there was a symbol on it. Three points, one pointing down ward, one pointing to the upper left, the other pointing to the upper right. And there was a small diamond shape in-between each point. He could clearly see the girl was almost terrified of him, as she pressed hard against the tree as he tried to get closer, and her eyes didn't leave him for a second.

"It's ok, I'm not here to hurt you, take it easy," Mega Man said. The girl didn't appear to relax much; he figured she wasn't sure she could trust him.

"My name is Rock, what's yours?" he asked as he held out his hand for her to take. She took a glance at his hand, and then she looked deeper into his eyes. A few moments of silence went by, until she took his hand and the word "Nei." left her mouth.

"That's an interesting name," Mega Man commented.

"Are you a hunter?" Nei then asked.

"No. Not really," Mega Man replied. "Where are your parents? They must be worried sick about you, and you look like you've been wandering around for awhile."

"I… I have no parents."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"What's to be sorry about? I never had any parents." She then paused a little bit. "Well, I did have some foster parents for a little bit, but they were killed."

"Well, either way you better stay with me, this forest may not be safe."

"I know that neither the forests nor the fields are very safe, due to the bio monsters."

"Is that why you asked me if I was a hunter?"

"Sort of."

"Well, you don't need to worry, I've faced many a foe in my time, and I should be able to take out some bio monsters. But if it's one I don't think I can beat, we're going to have to run, got it?"

"I understand, you don't have to worry about me, I can run fairly quickly." And with that, they left the area to try and find a safe place, preferably a place that can repair his ship. They didn't encounter anything for a good long while, until they came across a man dressed in interesting gear. He was wearing mostly dark blue, but the parts that were armor were a gray color. Both his eyes and hair were the same blue color, almost the same color as Mega Man's but a little darker.

"Who are you two?" the man asked. He looked to about in his teens or so, maybe early twenties.

"My name is Rock, and this is Nei, we're trying to get to a safe place," Mega Man replied. Rolf took a look at Nei, he could see she was worried.

"Come with me, I know a safe place, my name is Rolf," Rolf said. They followed him for a little ways.

"So where is this place we're headed?" Mega Man asked.

"We're headed for Paseo, the capital of Motavian," Rolf replied.

"Motavian is where I'm at huh? At least I know where I crash landed," Mega Man commented.

"You crash landed here?" Rolf asked.

"It's true, I saw his ship crash," Nei replied.

"So you're not from around here then. What planet did you come from?" Rolf asked.

"No place would you know of," Mega Man replied. 'Not that he would believe me anyway I think." But, after a few moments, they came across a fairly old man, but not too old. His hair was very short and gray, and his eyes brown. He wore armor similar to Rolf's, but it looked a bit more heavy duty, and he wore a purple color. His sword looked tougher than the one that Rolf had, Mega Man almost didn't notice his.

"Who are you?" Rolf asked.

"My name is Darum, now stand aside and let me do my job," Darum replied. Mega Man looked back and saw nothing behind them, but then Nei hid herself behind his leg.

"Are you mad!?" Mega Man asked. He then realized why Nei wanted to know if he was a hunter.

"I am just doing my job, now please, don't make it any harder, stand aside," Darum demanded. Mega Man then dashed for him.

"Like heck I will!" Mega Man stopped his sentence as he fired a blast at Darum, who just quickly rolled to the side.

"I see I have no choice," Damud said as he held his sword ready to attack.

"You and your stone cold heart, only caring about your orders!" Mega Man shouted.

"Please, I don't want to have to fight another human being, please be reasonable," Rolf said. Darum then pointed his sword at Nei.

"That thing behind you isn't supposed to exist."

"She's just a little girl! Not some rouge Bio-Monster!"

"Which doesn't appear on any species list in this system, natural or engineered. Believe me kid, that thing is an accident, a mistake!" Rolf pulled his sword out and swung at Darum, but he blocked with his sword. They swung at each other for a few minutes with great skill, but then Darum heard something coming behind him; he then swung his sword behind him and made a clang sound. Looking back he saw Mega Man had blocked the blade with his forearm.

"You're the mistake buddy," Mega Man replied. Darum then pulled the sword back and took another swing, but Mega Man just ducked. "Any human with feelings can see that she doesn't which to do any harm to anyone." Darun then did a hard thrust but Mega Man just sidestepped. "That girl got chased out of her home because of people like you I believe, and the people who took her in were terrorized! If she dies knowing nothing of the ways of life other than fear and hostility, then you're the monster, not her. If you had a daughter, would you wish such a life for her? Could you live with that?" Darum stared at him for a few minutes.

"No, I don't think I could," Darum replied. He then began to walk away.

"Take care of her you two; the next hunter may not be as kind as I am. At least I have a heart."

"Maybe not Darum, but I would like to believe that there maybe someone else like you out there, people like you are very hard to come by," Mega Man said.

"Thanks." Darum was soon out of sight, and they continued their walk.

'People with understanding are very rare indeed, the ability to realize what they're doing is so wrong is a very rare thing indeed. I needed to meet someone like him, to help my outlook on the world, because that kind of kindness and understanding sure isn't in Ridley, or his followers,' Mega Man thought.

"Rock, I have to ask you, would you have killed Darum?" Rolf asked.

"If he wasn't able to see the truth, I would have, though I prefer that it ended the way it did, if not for my benefit, but for Nei's," Mega Man replied. Rolf realized what Mega Man meant, to see that some words are powerful enough to reach the heart, there is a chance to settle things without bloodshed.

"But I think he realized what I was saying better than anyone else would have, because I believe he really does have a daughter," Mega Man added. 'I want these beliefs to be passed on to the next generation, I have to leave behind something for that generation, and the beginning of the next generation is this child with me. So young, she needs to learn the ways of life, the ways of peace. She has already witnessed the ways of war, but war of fear, not power, like I have faced. I do not wish the ways of war on anyone, but if I have to, I'll pass on what I have learned, and what I'm going to learn, to those I believe who will be able to protect my beliefs and the future generations.' His thoughts drifted to what he had to do elsewhere, he had to find two men, one who has the soul of the spider, and the other who has the soul of the bat. And his thoughts also drifted to the Moon Kingdom, and to the faint image that he could remember of the princess. A few days went by, and during one of those days, they had arrived at Paseo, the capital of Motavian. A day or so later and Mega Man's ship was brought in, but as he thought, it wasn't going to be simple to repair it, despite how low the damage was, most of the major components were fried, and needed to be replaced. Strangely enough, the parts were rare nowadays. Mega Man had a hunch as to why though, before when he came across the first planet to get fuel, he had picked it up a few days before he arrived there. While this planet Motavain, popped up on the radar, and he arrived only a few minutes after he picked it up, it was as if the planet materialized out of thin air. He figured he somehow entered a time portal which sent him ahead of time, as the parts he needed were used by the people here, but they advanced so much, they became outdated, but still usable. At this point, Nei had gotten used to the people, and the people got used to her, and accepted her. Right now, she and Mega Man had taken residence with Rolf. A few days went by, and on one day, Nei had gotten up early and saw that Mega Man was heading out.

"Where are you going Rock?" she asked.

"I became a hunter yesterday, I have to get the money to repair my ship, as well as pay for the parts," Mega Man replied. He then paused for a moment before going over to her. "I never told my other name," he added.

"Your other name?"

"My name is Rock, but another name I go by, is the name I'm mostly known as. I told you my real name when we first met, because I didn't want to frighten you. My other name is Mega Man."

"Mega Man? That is an…odd name be mostly known as."

"I tell those my real name when they ask for it, but you were special, I couldn't tell you my other name right of the bat."

"When we first met, I was afraid of you, and I became more afraid when we met Darum, that much power, that much hatred, it scared me."

"I realize that my power is terrifying to most of those who don't understand it, for it is powerful enough to destroy even the lesser gods. A long time ago, I met someone who told me I had to die in order to unlock the power that was inside me. I have died, and now look at me, powerful enough to end all life if I wish. But that is not my wish. It goes against everything I believe in really, but I have no choice but to use it."

"Rock, will I see you again, when you're done hunting?"

"I will be out hunting for about five months, I'm going to an area where the Bio-Monsters are the most profitable, and it's about the fastest way I can get the money."

"Why do you need to get the money so fast?"

"I have something to do elsewhere, on another planet who knows how far from here."

"Then I won't hold you back, if it is that important, it is important isn't it?"

"I'll tell you what I'm doing, and what I've been through before I got here after I get back from hunting, I promise." And with that, Mega Man went out the door, out of town, and back into the wilderness. During his time in Paseo, he learned of how things were done on Motavain. Or one thing that really stuck out in his head.

'So things are run here by an A.I. called "Mother Brain". Hmph, this is the second "Mother Brain" I've come across, except I haven't been able to make this ones acquaintance. Well I don't entirely care; at least the other Mother Brain didn't really run things, as she was just an overseer, while this one here seems to run things, while everyone is just lying around doing nothing all day. Well, it seems this oh great A.I. has been getting lax to let Bio-Monsters to run around and multiply, if she operated as well as the people claim she does, she would take care of this problem herself. I guess I wouldn't mind it so much if she didn't take away so much of the work from the people, because to much paradise can be a bad thing.' He thought as he marched to the area he was going to hunt. He fought a few Bio-Monsters while on his way. It took him awhile, but he made it to the area where the monsters were the strongest, if it had been any other way, he would have been happy to help clear out most of the Bio-Monsters, if not all of them, but the swarm seemed endless to him, despite how many Bio-Monsters he killed each day, more and more seem to come. Oh sure, once in a while the swarm seemed to pause for awhile, but otherwise there seemed to be no end in sight. Three months went by, and one day there was another lull in the swarm, so he took another rest. He was getting money two ways, by the amount of Bio-Monsters he killed, and the money they seem to have gotten somehow. While he was resting at the base of a tree, a man wearing black and gray walked by him and noticed him. His hair was blond and his eyes blue, and he had a big gun strapped to his back.

"You a hunter?" he asked.

"For the time being," Mega Man replied.

"The names Rudo, and yours?"

"Mega Man."

"That's an interesting name. Is that a Code name or something?"  
"I guess you could call it that."

"You seem bushed."

"I am. I've been at this for a few months."

"Trying to cover a debt?"

"Trying to get parts for my ship."

"So you're not from around here then. I could have guessed by your armor."

"I wish I knew a life other than fighting, but fighting is the only option available to me for the time being. So when ever a chance for a normal life comes along, and is at the right time, I'll take it. Sorry if I sort spouted that out of the blue, but I'm really not feeling quite right."

"Hey, who can blame you, if you've been fighting for as long as you claim you're bound to ramble now and then without resting very much."

"Are you a hunter too?"

"I used to be a soldier, but now I'm a hunter. And I thought this area had the toughest monsters around, I guess I was wrong or the message was misleading."

"Oh they're here alright, but I've whacked so many of them, they're regrouping somewhere."

"So you're that one hunter that went off to the most dangerous spot those few months ago. Never thought I'd get to see you, you might ass well be a legend now if you have lasted this long alone in an area like this, and manage to cause lulls in the Bio-Monsters attacks."

"Thanks, I guess. I just kind of wish I could be legendary some other way, rather then a legendary fighter."

"Man you must have had it fairly rough before you got here to be like this."

"Rougher then you can imagine."

"Care to work together for a little while? Might help you feel better if you work with a partner."

"Thanks. And what ever money dropped by a monster you kill, you can keep."

"Thanks, but I don't need the money as much as you, you have a job elsewhere right?"

"You almost read me like a book." Else where, the female Numan known as Neifirst was most angered as she wandered her domain which she acquired a few months ago. Her skin was a light blue, and the clothes she was wearing were a dark blue. Her outfit looked like a one piece swimsuit. Even her hair was blue, but the only thing that wasn't blue was her eyes, they were a shade of red. She wore knee high boots, and she also wore bits of armor, which were a golden color.

"What is going on out there? Lately someone has been hunting my Bio-Monsters, and has been hunting them with great diligence. In that one area where I send the strongest patches, someone is destroying them faster then I can put them out. Just who is this trying to put I stop to my plans? Could it be…no it can't be possible! She can't have gotten that strong during such a short time. But if it's not her, then who? This is absolutely puzzling! It's going to drive me mad!" She protested. About a month later she got the idea to have one of her Bio-Monsters to bring back some remains of a Bio-Monster in the area where Mega Man is at. It succeeded, but it almost failed as Mega Man gave chase. He was tempted to pursue it into the water where it got away, but then the idea of what could possibly be inhabiting the water didn't quite appeal to him. The Bio-Monster made it back, and she saw how badly it was injured.

"What kind of creature is able to do this much to damage to one of the Bio-Monsters which guard my domain? Surly not an ordinary hunter, that much can be for certain," she commented. During her time in her domain, she had discovered a way to look into the memories of other beings with the machines she had, so she figured, if it was possible, she could check the memories of a Bio-Monster, to the moment of its death. She tried to look into the Bio-Monster's memories, but it wouldn't work, so she revived it and was able to look into its memories. Once the memory was recorded, she became very interested in what it had seen before it was killed. She watched it over and over again, to try and figure out who the attacker was, and what was the source of his strength.

"His power rivals my own. Perhaps even exceeds it. How a being like him came into existence is questionable at best, but I can't help but get fascinated by him. His powers seem limitless, it's a no wonder anymore what has been destroying my Bio-Monsters, but the real question is, who does he work for? Does he work for the humans, or something entirely different? Was he born here, or elsewhere? So many questions that only he can answer, though I know it might cost me my life to have an encounter with him, I just can't help but hope that I do meet him. Such a person of his magnificence comes so rarely, I can't help myself but yearn for him for some reason, as if he is the key to everything," She thought as she paced in front of the monitor while looking at it play the same video in a loop. "Such strength and power, to be able to wield that power, and to be so…alluring somehow, if you only knew where to truly point that energy, we could make a perfect match, we could form the world as we see fit. But alas that can only be a dream, due to my imperfection of age; such dreams are meaningless, only absolute destruction of all life is the only thing left for me." She stopped her pacing and took a good long look at the video before she paused it at a frame where Mega Man was fairly close. She then ran her hand gently across the screen. "If only I had the time, I would go and meet you in person, my dear warrior, but time is against me, if fate had it otherwise, we would meet, and perhaps the world would turn for the better, but alas fate is cruel to both of us, to pit each other against us, if only there was another way." She then wandered to an empty area and remembered something. "If only I had enough data, and enough time, I would try to recreate the Neitype research, but fate mocks me, as I took too long to get here, to even begin to try and recreate another Numan being, if I only had enough time, perhaps things would be different." It had now been five months since Mega Man left, and he had made a little more then enough to get the parts for the ship, and cover the repair cost. He used the teleportation system to get back to Paseo, and he paid for everything, now he just had to wait about another month. He went over to the apartment where Rolf and Nei stayed, and he used the card that Rolf had made for him to open the door. No one appeared to be home, but he figured that Rolf was out on an errand, and that Nei was still in bed, because of how early in the day it was. He went over to take a look in her bedroom, and saw someone in the bed, but it didn't appear to be Nei, as the shape in the blanket showed a much older person, like a teenager or someone around that size and shape. Mega Man marched over to see who this person was, but got a surprise when he got to what would be the person's right side, in the bed was a girl that had the same color hair as Nei, long pointed ears that pointed straight up, and had the same collar that Nei wore.

'How is this possible? I wasn't gone for that long, and yet, here she is, almost all grown up,' he thought as he looked at her. He could clearly see that she was finely figured; the blanket showed this as it lay on her body. Her face was finely featured, and her hair was much longer then it was when he last saw her. She aged beautifully rather quickly he thought. He was about to leave, but then she did a little moan, shifted a little bit, and then her beautiful red eyes opened up. She glanced around a little bit before her eyes fell upon him. She blinked a few times before the word "Rock?" quietly and softly left her mouth. She then propped herself up, and he saw she was wearing a sleeveless white shirt that had small details on it, shorts that were rolled up a little. She blinked blankly at him a few more times.

"Rock, you came back!" she exclaimed as she sprung from the bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. Mega Man had to put his arms around her and wound up staggering back a little, as this was not the welcome he was expecting, at least not from someone this size.

"You certainly have grown a bit since I last saw you," Mega Man commented.

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Nei asked as her head came back into view with little perplexed look on her face.

"No, you just must have a fast growth nature, that's all," Mega Man replied as he set her back down. And with that a smile came back to her face.

"Well then, we have a lot to talk about, what I've learned, and about your past. Unless you don't…want to talk about your past?" Nei asked rather nervously, Mega Man figured she thought that was a touchy subject. He then placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I made a promise to tell you what I've experienced before I got here when I came back, and I'm going to keep that promise. Now let's go sit down," Mega Man replied. They went to a fairly plain room, which had a few chairs and a couch. Mega Man could still hardly believe how much she had grown in such a short amount of time, but he listened to her as she told him what she had done in the past few months. Soon, it was his turn to talk.

"Now Nei, what I'm about to tell you is something I haven't told anyone before, or at least not to the full extent I'm about to tell you."

"Ok, I'm ready, perhaps this will help me understand you better." She said with a faint smile, she wanted to know him better, she wanted to understand him, understand what pain he has, as she can sense something was troubling him, she wanted to know, perhaps she can help just by merely listening to him, to help him get it off his chest.

"Many long years ago, before you were born, perhaps way even before this planet was born; I had another life, in another galaxy, a different lifetime. I lived in a colony, ruled by a kind King, whom I soon served after I had a talk with him, and my family served along with me. My family was my father, mother brother and sister. We all lived happily together for the longest time. For some reason though, I can't remember my mother's face or name. But either way, we lived in peace; we had no interest in war, as did the kingdoms that made peace treaties with us. The peace continued, until one day, something came and destroyed that peace. The Space Pirates, the most ruthless beings in the universe, they were known as the Invaders back then, but still the same group nonetheless. Their leader was Zoda, who was at the time, _the_ most ruthless person alive. He murdered our King, and the King of one of the races we made a peace treaty with. Whether or not that race was completely destroyed or not, I'm not sure, but all I know is that Zoda is dead now. He's been dead for who knows how long. But his second in command Ridley, became their leader. Though we were horribly beaten and scarred from what they did while Zoda was alive, we managed to resume the life of peace again, on one of the many moons of one of the many earths, we were apart of the Moon Kingdom. I became one of the royal guard for the Moon Princess, I can't remember her face, but I can just barley recall a faint image of her, and if memory serves, she looked almost like her mother. There were four other guards, each one of them named after a planet. They were called the Sailor Soldiers. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus were their names, I served alongside them to protect the Princess, and I was the only male in the group. Of course I wasn't named after a planet, but you get the idea, as I was an honorary guard in a way. But despite that, we lived in peace with the Moon people, but we never went to earth, or at least, no one went except me and my brother. We went there one time when the Princess requested it. She was in love with the Prince of the Earth; she would often beam down there without even asking to go. I didn't want to get in the way, they were both in love. Who was I to say no to the matter? It wasn't my place to put a stop to it, only foolishness would come of putting a stop to peoples love just because they are different. Not to long after that day, our peace was shattered once again, this time by the people of earth. Something used their jealousy of the Moon people against them as the Moon people had long life and great beauty. However there was another jealousy, one that I could have been a victim of if I was weak hearted. This jealousy was from one of the maidens that served the Prince of the Earth, she was in love with the Prince, but his heart was with the Princess of the Moon. This jealousy also led to hatred, which in turn, led to a monster made of pure darkness to enter her heart, and affect the other people as well. The only one not affected was the Prince in that battle, and in that battle, I lost my brother, as well as failing to protect the Princess. I almost succumbed to the darkness that took over everyone else, but someone unknown to me, gave me the strength to not lose my will like everyone else. I was able to reject the darkness, and leave my mark on the creature. Me and my colony managed to get away from the battle, and I still feel terrible for leaving the Sailor Soldiers to handle the mess, but I was ordered to leave, and I had no choice but to leave, if I ever hoped to find answers to some of my questions. For you see, I was seeing things, things of the future as I found out. I still don't know who gave me strength on that day when the Moon Kingdom fell, but I was told by a sorceress it was someone who I would become very close to in the future. I know now that she was telling the truth about seeing the future, as I have met one of the people I saw in an image, a blue hedgehog named Sonic. She also told me I had to die at the hands of Ridley, if the scales of good and evil were to balance out, and to unlock a great power that was sealed up inside me. I was also told to inflict as much damage to him as possible before I died, and I sort of understand why. After I was killed, my mother went up against him, and inflicted more damage, enough damage that he soon died from the wounds after he killed her. Somehow, I have no idea but somehow, he is still alive, because his followers have resurrected him fairly recently, we met again not to long before I got here. But before we met again, I was reborn in this body, and I became a protector, when a madman tried to take over the world. Because I knew it was a crime to kill a living person, I let him live every time I beat him. I went up against him so many times it's ridiculous that he still hasn't given up. I offered him forgiveness so many times, a chance to redeem himself so many times, and he still continues down his own path. I realize now that you have to permanently stop those who just won't see the error of their ways, or else they will cost you dearly in the future. Once I at least know where the planet I'm going to is at, I'll go back and stop him for good. I realize I still haven't told you why I left in the first place. The Destiny of Destruction is why I left."

"The Destiny of Destruction?"

"I was told that an event called the Destiny of Destruction was going to take place by my brother, sometime in the future, the future of the whole galaxy. I can not stop it directly, but I can set into motion the events that can stop it. I was told I would be long gone by the time this event comes about, so I have to prepare the next generation to stop the Destiny of Destruction. That much I deduced myself. I was told to leave the planet I was reborn on, and find the planet where the Earth and Moon Kingdoms were. I was told this by someone I rescued recently." The memory began to play back in his head. He was about to go back to his world as well as Sonic who was going back to his world. Queen Zelda was there to see them off.

"Remember what I told you before, Mega Man, you have to find two men, one has the soul of the Spider, and one has the soul of the Bat. They are both on the same planet, the same planet earth you once visited with the Moon Princess. Now go, you have a long journey ahead of you. Both physically and spiritually," Queen Zelda said before Mega Man and Sonic were enveloped by a bright light. Mega Man then took a look at his hands for a few seconds before he continued.

"I also have darkness deep within me, that I have to get rid of, or else it will consume me." Nei was deeply moved by what Mega Man had told her. She at first thought it was to fantastic to believe, but she then realized it was nothing but the truth, the emotions he showed while he talked, were not fake or exaggerated.

"I…I'm sorry, I didn't realize…" Mega Man cut Nei short.

"There is nothing to be sorry about, you couldn't have possibly known. Besides, I feel a bit better to have finally told someone." He replied. Nei's eyes drifted away from him for a little bit, and then back at him. Her expression showed she had mixed emotions, she appeared not to sure what to feel. On one hand she feels as if she should cry for him, while on the other hand she feels as if she should feel anger against the things that caused him so much pain, but the amount for both were so equal, they wound up canceling each other out. She wasn't sure what to do, so she went over to him and sat next to him, and took his hand that changed into the buster. This would be the determining question she thought, how she should feel for things he mentioned, and how she should feel for him.

"How do you feel about your power? The power you unlocked after you were killed? The power you have to destroy even the lesser gods?" she asked. She then slowly let go of his hand, and he looked at it, before he changed it into his buster. He looked at it for a good few minutes, because he never gave it much thought about it in the past, but lately he had been thinking about it, and now was the time to determine what he truly felt about it.

"At first I never gave the power much thought, because it came to me so naturally, it was mostly because I had it the whole time I guess. But now that I look at it, see the destruction it is capable of, the people I'm able to hurt because of it, I hate it. It is a power I never really wanted, but it is something I can't get rid of, as fate handed it to me at birth, so long I use it for what I believe in, is the only way to redeem it. Otherwise I wish I never had anything to do with any of this, I never wanted to fight at all. When I was reborn, I was ok with just being "normal", but when evil showed its head again, I couldn't stand by and let it go unpunished, as I had the power to punish it, so I guess I let the power run free that day. It's my fate to battle evil; it's my role, my destiny. I'll fight as long as I have to, as long as I'm needed, I can't stand by and let evil run free, for the only thing necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing," Mega Man replied as he stared at his buster. "How long I have to fight I don't know, perhaps till the day I do die, but whenever that is, I must fulfill my duty, my promises beforehand, I have to fight as long as there is life in my body, I have to keep fighting, or else all life will end otherwise, on the day of the Destiny of Destruction, and I won't let that happen, this I swear." He then felt Nei place her hands on him; he looked at her and saw her awestruck. She was trying to lend comfort for him, but she couldn't take the strain, her head fell against his shoulder, and she began to cry. She felt great pain and sorrow for him, as well as sympathy. Mega Man embraced her to try and calm her down, but he didn't know what was going through her mind. The main part of the crying passed, but tears were still coming out.

'We both share similar thoughts, I do not wish to fight, I don't want to harm anyone, but in order to do what is right I must. I have to stop my other half, before it's too late,' she thought. She pushed herself away from Mega Man a little, but they were still holding each other, she just wanted to take a good look at his face, she could tell he was worried about her, because he wasn't sure what she was getting upset about. 'He has no idea how worried I was about him, how could he? He might have figured I worried about him, but not to the extent I did, I know who is sending out the Bio-Monsters. I was afraid she might send out an even stronger batch after he took so many of them out, but thank God she didn't. Whether or not she knows about him, I don't know, but either way I have to stop her, even if I have to kill her, I have no choice. Rock is willing to give his life for those he has sworn to protect, I to have to protect them, even though it will cost me my life when it comes down to it. I can't just sit by and let things flow the way they are, I wish I could stay with him, but I know I can't it would be selfish to try. The one true question on my mind now is whether or not to tell him about what is going on here, so he can help me in my task, or should I let him go so he can continue his quest?'

"Is there something wrong?" Mega Man asked.

'It's now or never Nei, should I tell him to stay and help, or should I let him go?' Nei asked herself. She took one good final look at him. Then she remembered words that he said, "I also have darkness deep within me, that I have to get rid of, or else it will consume me."

"No. There is nothing wrong, I'm sorry I got emotional," Nei replied. 'I can't ask him to stay, not with the darkness inside of him, he has already risked his life for this place enough already. I won't pry to find out what the darkness is inside him, doing so could cause a problem, he has to leave, if he is to have a chance to finish his mission, and be rid of that evil inside him. He has to leave; it would be selfish to have him stay.'

"Well, I'm sorry if I caused you some emotional stress," Mega Man apologized.

"It wasn't your fault, I'm not exactly sure why I got upset, of course what you said was a bit upsetting, but how could it not be upsetting? After all, you have had a real hard life after all, it is quite depressing. Or perhaps I am a bit emotional," Nei replied.

"You know, there is something familiar about you, that I can't quite put my finger on."

"How can there be something familiar about me? We never met before. I don't think."

"I'm not sure what the deal is." Mega Man then thought for a moment. Words then quietly began to echo in his head. "Don't worry; your time has not yet come. Your end is not here, it doesn't end like this, not yet," the voice echoed in his head. The voice sounded similar to Nei's, and Mega Man wasn't sure why. He remembered when he heard those words. The first set was when he went head on to meet the people of earth when they came to attack the Moon Kingdom. The second set was when the darkness that drove the people to madness, tried to take over his mind. For some reason, as they looked at each other, they felt whole for some reason.

"You know, I never felt this before, but now that we're here, together again, I feel whole for some reason, like as if I found another part of myself. Do you have any explanation for that?" Nei asked.

"Strangely enough, I feel the same way," Mega Man replied.

"What could it possibly mean?"

'Now that we have talked for a few good minutes, I swear that Nei was the one that talked to me on that day, the voices match perfectly. But how is this possible? What could it mean? But she is right, for some reason, while we're here together, I feel whole. Could this be what Malinya told me about? That the voice was someone I would become close to? Is this what she meant?' Mega Man pondered this very hard, and Malinya's voice echoed in his head. "It must be someone who you're very close to in the future, possibly your spouse. It may even be your daughter." 'My spouse…that isn't possible, not anymore, not while I'm a machine. But yet, it's the only explanation I have. As a mater of fact I didn't even remember all that Malinya told me until recently. It's the only explanation I have. Perhaps I am not doomed to just dying in battle, perhaps I have a chance to live with a family. Perhaps Nei is my salvation in the future. I'm only guessing, but it seems like the only thing I can really look forward to, I would like to believe it, I will believe it.' They looked at each other again, and smiles came across their faces. Fate did have plans for them. During the month that Mega Man had to wait for repairs on his ship, he had learned quite a bit about Nei, all that she wanted him to learn anyway, she didn't want him to know about her other half, Neifirst, who was causing all the trouble with the Bio-Monsters. The entire month went by, and Mega Man was at peace again during that time. He was at his ship with Nei and Rolf.

"So it's time for you to go then?" Rolf asked.

"I would like to stay much longer, but I have to go," Mega Man replied.

"I'll miss you Rock. Do you think we'll meet again?" Nei asked. A huge smile came across his face.

"I can't promise that, but I would like to believe that we will meet again someday, if fate will allow it, I will never forget you," Mega Man replied.

"I won't forget you either," Nei said.

"Then farewell, when I am able to, I will come back," Mega Man called before he closed the door to his ship. Rolf and Nei backed up a bit, so the ship could take off, and it hummed a bit, lifted off the ground a bit, then shot off in a beam of light. Some faint tears filled Nei's eyes, which went by unnoticed by Rolf.

'I wish he could have stayed, I would have liked him to, but I couldn't risk his life anymore then it already is. It would have been very selfish. He had to leave, he has a duty to perform, and promises to keep and I don't want those promises to go un-kept. If fate does allow it, perhaps we will meet again, under happier circumstances I hope,' Nei thought as she looked up high into the sky. A few moments later after Mega Man was a good ways away from the planet, an interesting thought came to mind.

"What if I come across Malinya again? Perhaps she can tell me fore sure…no. I shouldn't go looking for her, there is no reason to. Besides, I'm pretty sure I know who that voice was that spoke to me on that day. But still, I can't help but wonder what that sorceress has been up to all these years. If she is still alive that is," Mega Man said to himself. Malinya had been quite busy since he left all those years ago. She was dressed in robes that were a dark purple, and had gold trim here and there, her hair was still blond and her eyes blue. Of course it looked like she hadn't even changed a day since that day all those years ago; she still looked and sounded like a teenager. She had been practicing her spells with great diligence and persistence. She was casting various spells that made the whole room she was in glow many colors, bright red, dark blue, deep green, bright yellow, and all sorts of colors. She soon did one long chant before she thrust her wand down and made the whole place shake and the whole room glowed a dark purple. After everything cleared, she let out a sigh, pointed her wand towards a room and sparkles quickly left the wand and zipped into the room, and a bed quickly zoomed out sparkling and placed itself right behind Malinya, and she then fell on her back, right into the bed, she was absolutely exhausted. She had been perfecting casting a series of spells at random with great speed and execution. A glowing ball of light then hovered over her head; she glanced at it for a little bit. It was the same ball of light she used to give information to Mega Man, when he was still in his first life.

"How was my resent use of spells?" Malinya asked, she sounded like she didn't care too much about the verdict.

"You have built up quite a great deal speed and accuracy, just what is needed for a war. That last spell was sure to wipe out a group of enemies, if not all of them, then at least scare them away," a voice replied.

"How much longer till the Destiny of Destruction?"

"You still have a long wait ahead of you. But we are almost halfway there."

"Halfway? Ugh, I was hoping to be almost a quarter of the way there. How long have I been at this? Well over a few millenniums I think."

"Quite a few millenniums in fact. You have come a long way since the boy named Rock came here."

"Rock…I almost forgot his name it's been so long. He was a very hansom boy if I remember right." Malinya said with a happy tone, she liked Rock a little bit; he was the only person she has seen in a long time. She then remembered all that she had told him. "Has he been reborn yet? Did he meet his spouse?" she then asked.

"He has been reborn, and you were right about the person who spoke to him before, it was his spouse, and they have met, though they are not together yet."

"At least they met; it feels good to be right about something that important. I wish I could see him again."

"He still remembers you."

"Even after being reborn he still has his memories?"

"He is one of the special few that regains their memories after awhile, though he almost has all of them, some of them, have not returned yet."

"Oh. But he still remembers me. At least he hasn't forgotten me."

"As a matter of fact, he is thinking of you right now, wondering what you've been up to since he left."

"Right now?"

"Yes, you can speak with him now if you wish; you know the conversation spell better then anyone. But, there are a few things you need to tell him though, so a conversation with him was imminent." A few minutes went by, and Mega Man was just staring out into space, his thoughts drifting. Just the same thing he sees everyday while in space, stars zipping by him. There was nothing but silence, until there was faint sound, a sound of something sparkling. He glanced around, and then saw a spot where sparkles were gathering. Soon when the spot was bright, the sparkles began to form a huge circle, almost the shape of a mirror in front of him. Once the circle was complete, the area inside the circle filled with a white light, and after a few moments, he could see a girls face, with a room behind her. He took one good long look at her.

"Malinya!" he quickly spat out.

"Hello Rock, it's nice to see you again, or should I call you Mega Man?" Malinya asked with an interesting smile. Mega Man stared blankly at her for a little bit.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I dumbfounded you, didn't I?" she then asked.

"You haven't aged a day since we last met!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"Hey, I've aged. I just don't show it. It has been quite a few millenniums since we first met, you probably thought I would show some sort of age difference during that long of a time period."

"Well, I did, I thought you would at least look like a young woman or something by now."

"A woman by now? Oh come on, like I want to age that fast."

"I think you thought likewise when you were in kid mode for a good while."

"Ouch, now there is a little quirk that didn't slip under your radar, didn't it? But I'm getting way off track here. I called you to tell you have one more planet to visit, before you get to your destination. I'm sure you're getting tired of stopping, so believe me when I tell you, this is the last stop you'll make, and then you'll find the planet earth that you're looking for. Of course the planet you're about to stop at is one of the many planet earths out there."

"I would like to go to someplace simpler for a change."

"The word, "simpler" would not be the best word to describe the place."

"What kind of trouble does it have?"

"In two ways, you're familiar with the kind of problem that this earth has. Trust me; this isn't something you can ignore, or else it will soon spread if someone doesn't take care of it. Things will go bad in more ways then one if the evil there gets loose."

"I'll make sure I put a stop to it, this I promise."

"Rock…"

"Is something on your mind?"

"…Did you…meet anyone interesting since you came back?"

"I met two people. Remember that blue hedgehog I told you that I followed inside your place? I met him; his name is Sonic the Hedgehog."

"So the little hedgehog was real, I told you that you were seeing the future."

"And I think I met my spouse."

"Really?........what makes you so sure?"

"Well, when we were together, we both felt whole, like we found pieces of ourselves."  
"That might be a good indication, seeing as to how she talked to you before."

"How do you figure she did it? She doesn't seem to know anything about that."

"Well, just a hunch, but maybe it was her future self, I will have to study on this."

"And you will call me when you have the results?"  
"On such touchy matters, I can not interfere."

"I understand."  
"Listen, the best thing to do is follow your heart. And another thing, you have gained a very special ability. You didn't gain this from the enemies you've faced; it is something that became a part of you not to long ago. You gained the ability to see what's in people's hearts."

"I what?"  
"You gained the ability to see what a person truly desires; you have recently deduced that the man you have faced for so long will not give up on his ambition, no matter how many times you defeat him. You have also deduced that Ridley will not give up his ruthless ways, even after being killed so many years ago, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I did. But Ridley died back then, did that tip the scales wrong?"  
"No, his death was inevitable, but things would have gone horribly wrong had he not killed you first. What do you think would have happened to the planet you were reborn on? Or what would have happened to the world where you rescued Queen Zelda?"

"So I really was destined to fight."

"Now you're really beginning to understand how much the world needs you. I'm proud of you."

"You are?"

"You've done so much already, and though you didn't fully understand what your brother told you, you did what you thought was right. You have even begun to unlock the power that I sensed inside you so long ago. Your father would be proud, or rather he is proud."

"You've talked with my father? Where is he?"

"He is in a place where is happy, that is all I can say, and what you have done for the world makes him even happier."

"Thank you for telling me that."

"Farewell Rock, this is our second and final meeting, we will never meet again."

"Thanks Malinya, you have done so much for me, I can't even begin to think of a way to repay you."

"Don't bother; all I want is for you to be happy. Never lose your heart, for that is the most important thing. Oh, and before I forget, you will find a way to get rid of that darkness stuck inside you, and you will find the means to become human again. This I promise you. It's the best I can do for a final farewell. Good-bye Rock, and take care."

"You too Malinya. And thanks again, for giving me something to look forward to after I'm done fighting." Malinya gave one final smile before the image faded away.

"Or rather the means to become human again will find _him_." Malinya said.

"So long as you didn't tell him how, then no harm was done."

"By the way, just who is his spouse? Oh never mind, I can find out myself." She then cast a quick spell, and she saw Nei, sitting in her bed looking out the window, looking out into the star that filled the sky, for that is where she saw Mega Man go last.

"So she's his spouse."

"Her name is Nei. She is a Numan, which is a race that was created by humans. Right now she is in her unperfected state."

"Unperfected? You mean she is defective?"

"For now she is. There is another that goes by the name of "Nei". Or rather, has Nei for the first part of her name."

"What do you mean?"

"The other, is called Neifirst. The one that we are looking at now, is called Neisecond."

"What? Why do they have numb… wait…Neifirst….Neisecond…they're from the same project!"

"Now you realize what I am talking about, but Neisecond wasn't created by the people who created Neifirst. No, she wasn't created at all, by all accounts, she shouldn't even exist."

"Then how did she come into existence?"

"A major flaw in Neifirst, an imperfection in her personality. Neisecond is in fact, Neifirst's alternate personality. In more particle terms, her opposite twin."

"You mean they're the same person?"  
"Allow me to show you Neifirst." Soon a bright light glowed next to the image of Neisecond, and the image of Neifirst, standing in front of a device called Climate Control, became visible.

"They do look alike, but Neisecond looks more human then Neifirst, and younger."

"How that came about, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's due to the fact the Neisecond is more human than her primary counter part."

"Primary counter part?"

"Neifirst was the first Numan created; Neisecond is just a personality that managed to take physical form. She remains stable so long as Neifirst is alive, other wise, when Neifirst dies, so will Neisecond."

"No! That can't be true! It just can't be! Then how are Rock and her supposed to be together?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?"

"No. But tell me, what must be done to spare Neisecond such a fate?"

"There is nothing _we_ can do. Soon Neisecond will go on a journey to stop her other half, and they will both die. But enough of them survive for the Neitype research to continue many years later. After Mega Man has faced many battles, there will come a time, were he will travel the stars and worlds against his will along with others, it is then that after Neisecond has been restored, will they meet again. And neither of them will leave each others sides the distance that is being made right now, ever again."

"Well that's a load off my mind. But to go through that, to die and come back, that must be one heck of an experience."

"A fate you will not suffer. I will be leaving in a matter of moments."

"What? You're leaving?"

"You have done enough to be on your own again, but I will tell you this. Rock and Nei's children will come to this planet as I told you before, when technology here is at its peak."

"How soon after the technology reaches its peak?"

"A few years later, you will know the time has come, when the scales in this room tilt in various directions, and when a voice echoes one word, one word that tells many emotions in a person's heart."

"Which word is that?"

"You will know. It is a word that everyone has heard, at least a few times, from themselves or others." Soon the light faded away. She stood there in silence, and words echoed in her head as if they echoed in the entire room. "When the scales in this room tilt in various directions, and when a voice echoes one word, one word that tells many emotions in a person's heart." Malinya then wandered the room trying to figure out what to do next. And while she did this, she couldn't help but wonder what the word could be.

"A word that tells many emotions in a person's heart. Which word could it be?" She pondered it for quite awhile. "It must be negative emotions. That much can be for certain. But what word?" she thought hard for awhile, but couldn't think of anything. So not being able to come up with something, she went back to work. She had worked for a few good minutes, and she couldn't help but think about Neifirst for some reason.

"Negative emotions…both she and Neisecond had been shunned by humans. Neisecond doesn't wish any harm to come to them, while Neifirst seems to…" her voice trailed off when the answer to the question she had before seemed to have forced its way into her head. "REVENGE!"

End Chapter 13


	14. The War against the Machines

**The Children of Destiny**

**Chapter 14**

**The War against the Machines**

**Note that this chapter is mostly action, and little story, but it still affects later parts of the story. And also note that I haven't seen the new Terminator movie, but trust me, I don't think the events of this chapter even come close to what happens in the movie, if any of it at all. And I'm also using a new word program, so the text is a bit different.  
**

**A few days ago, Mega Man left a planet that left him with a glimmer of hope, that he might yet find peace in life, but that is still a good ways off. Right now he still has to fight for the lives of many. His ship radar picked up a planet with huge amounts of technology, he figured this planet must be the one place he has to go too before he finds the planet earth that he is looking for. He soon reached the planet and made it through the atmosphere, and everything was dark and grim on the undersides of the clouds, they were a dark grayish-blue. He wasn't sure why his shipped picked up a lot of technology, the area he was at was a completely wrecked city, the roads were a mess, lamp posts knocked over, buildings leaning on angles, cars over turned, the place seemed dead. He landed his ship in a spot where he could hide it, just to be sure no one tries to steal it, but who could steal it asked himself, the place was about as empty as a ghost town. The way the sky was gave everything a bit of a bluish tint to it, and the sky rumbled with the sounds of a storm. Though there were no signs of life anywhere, he soon felt uneasy. He felt like as if something was watching him, from an unknown location, like it had just discovered his presence, but by what? The feeling began to get more and more intense, like as if what ever had discovered his presence was trying to pinpoint his location. Mega Man quickly took cover in some of the ruble under a highway, and the feeling lightened, but it was still there, searching for him.**

"**Just what is this place?" Mega Man asked. He glanced around and saw a sign that read "Welcome to Loss Angeles"**

"**Loss Angeles? This dump is Loss Angeles? Or rather it was. Something big must have happened here, but what exactly?" His thoughts were interrupted when the area began to vibrate a bit, and it intensified to the extent that something was bound to fall over, but then, a huge high-tech tank drove by. It was huge, it looked mostly black, hid had many grooves and curves on it, multiple cannons, mini turrets, and it took up both sides of the road, it was bigger then a small house. It had many small lights in the front area, which must have been sensors of some kind.**

'**That thing is **_**huge**_**; I'm amazed that something big could move so fast.' Something then came to mind, he quickly went back into his ship and turned off all the computers, everything that could be turned on was off, just to make sure it couldn't be tracked. Once he was out of the ship again, he went to a nearby building that was fairly battered, as there were areas where you could jump into the building as whole sections of walls were missing. He worked his way to about halfway to the top fairly quickly as there were holes in the floors. He went to an opening in the wall which over looked most of the city area, he could see more of those huge tanks, along with a few flying objects, he couldn't make out any details on those, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to get close to any of these things. After he made his way down, he saw something that made him freeze dead in his tracks, there were robots carrying high-tech rifles, but what scared him the most about these robots, is that they looked like robotic skeletons. Their faces were what made them eerie, their stone cold expressions, and their glowing red eyes. They marched down the road in an orderly fashion, they were on patrol. One of them broke from the group over to an overturned car, smashed the passenger window, and then flipped it upright with just one hand. It looked inside before it went back into the group.**

'**What are they looking for? Survivors? If so, what do they intend to do to them?' he asked himself. He a quick glance out of an opening and saw a whole bunch more of the skeletal robots along with a few more tanks, a couple more of the flying machines, and a few robots that zoomed along the ground like cars, the area was getting swarmed with them, he had to get out of there before he was spotted. He then got a good look at the flying machines; they were uniquely shaped, really long from front to back, and a bit wide with the wings, they were a bluish-silver color, they had a few laser cannons at the bottom, engines at the end of the wings, and two fins at the back that pointed up and tilted slightly away from each other. They also had search lights at the bottom which weaved in all directions. One got closer and he saw that there were some spots where rockets could come out of the wings, though the holes were small, he bet the rockets packed a mean punch.**

'**My ship is fairly well hidden, but I better get out of here before one of these things spot me,' he told himself. He quickly hid behind a desk when one of the flying machines went towards the hole and shined the spotlights inside. He could hear the immense power of the engines as it hovered there, and not finding anything, it left, and the force of the wind currents blew many papers and dust through the air as it left. He found an opening and made his way under the highway and snuck his way past many of the machines. He came across one of the skeletal robots but it was not functioning as the eyes weren't glowing and there were some parts the looked like they exploded. He checked it out, and it was eerie looking at it, the skeletal face and body, the expression, and he had seen some of its strength. He looked it over, there were no weapons on it, but he found a model number on it, T-900. A scary thought came to his mind, he was never that badly damaged before, but now he couldn't help but wonder are the robotic parts underneath his skin and armor look similar to this thing? He quickly had to go hide under some rubble as one of the flying machines began to head his way, the lights went over the rubble he hid under, and left.**

'**If there are any human survivors, I've got to find them, otherwise I'm going to have a rough time trying to find out where these guys are coming from, and shutting that place down, and putting a stop to the mastermind behind this. Judging by how they're searching the place, there must be a fair amount of survivors left around here, otherwise they wouldn't be patrolling and searching the way they are. I've got to find them, or find out where the robots main H.Q. is, either way, I have to be extra careful around here, these guys seem to be packing a lot of firepower, one slip up and I'll be blasted to pieces' he warned himself as he made his way around the city while avoiding detection. He wandered the streets for hours, and came across a human who was killed recently. This proved that the robots were looking for survivors, and this also answered what they do with them. Mega Man knew he had to work with the humans here to get rid of the robots, and he figured they should do it quickly before the robots learn that he is not from this planet, and turn their attention to the stars. A few minutes went by and he went to the top of a pillar to get a better view of then area to try and figure where he should go and find anymore survivors, but then one of the flying machines shot up and stopped right in front of him.**

'**Uh oh," he thought as the engines roared as it backed up a little and the cannons began to point at him. He jumped just as soon as the cannons fired and he landed on top of the machine and shot both engines and leaped off before it fell out of the sky and crashed into the ground. His arm got clipped by a laser that came from a rifle from a T-900. He then dove out of sight of a whole bunch more of them began to fire at him. Mega Man then bolted into one of the buildings that were nearby and he pressed against a wall and charged his buster.**

'**These machines mean business, sure hope I can get away from this area without a hitch,' he thought. Then an arm of a T-900 burst through the wall and tried to grab him, but he quickly dove away and turned to face the threat that was coming his way. The T-900 pulled its arm back and then smashed the wall and sent many pieces flying everywhere and dust into the air. Mega Man could see the glowing red eyes through the dust as the T-900 marched its way through. As soon as its face cleared, it took aim but just a little before it pulled the trigger Mega Man grabbed the gun pointed it upward just as it fired. He then tried to yank the gun away, but the grip of the T-900 was firm, so it rammed into Mega Man and knocked him into another wall. Mega Man then fell on his stomach and did a side roll just as the T-900 fired and avoided the shot, and when his finished rolling he got on one knee and fired a charged shot at the T-900 and floored it. He then let out a sigh but when he looked up he could see many red dots coming his way from the opening in the wall, and the T-900 he just shot slowly got up and where he hit was just a little black.**

'**Man these guys are tough.' He then quickly turned and ran through the building and went into the street and one of the machines he saw zipping around on the road came his way, it was oddly shaped, it curved backwards and pivoted at the base, had two sets of treads at the bottom, had mini guns on either arm which stuck out straight on both sides. This thing was fast, Mega Man just barley dashed out of the way to avoid getting run over by this thing. It quickly stopped and pivoted and aimed its gun at him, but Mega Man quickly jumped over it and landed on the base which was big enough for him to stand on. He quickly turned around and pried open the control panel on the back and rammed his fist inside.**

'**Sure hope I can get this to work.' He then began to fiddle with various parts and figured out how to work this thing, and quickly drove off with it. He zoomed along the streets and shot past many hordes of the T-900s and some of the really huge tanks. As he passed through another clump of T-900s, two of them went along for the ride. They both hanged on the arms of the machine and aimed at him, but he dodged one shot and it hit the other one and he quickly shot the one that remained. He then got onto the highway and made it over some gaps by hitting ramps made from various things still on the road, he rather liked gong at this speed, made him feel like he was going at Sonic's speed. Soon he could hear a rather loud hum behind him, and he looked back and got a rather mean surprise.**

"**Well….crud," he said. It was a jumbo sized version of the flying machines he saw flying around, and this one was even more heavily armed due to all the space it had, and when he looked at the top of it, he could see there were some T-900s on top.**

'**It's going to be a long night,' he thought. A few minutes elsewhere, at a location called the Resistance Base, a strong looking man stepped out with binoculars in his hand. There were a bunch of other men standing around him, and they all looked like soldiers, and the man with the binoculars looked like the leader. His name is John Connor. Everyone was watching one part of the city that could be seen, and they could see many explosions and some buildings falling over. John held up the binoculars and looked through them, and could see the huge flying and saw it was causing the damage, but as to why he didn't know.**

"**There's an F-k Kite flying out there, a really huge one, it appears to be chasing something,' John said. After a few minutes the machine that Mega Man was riding came into few.**

"**It is chasing someone, and that person knows his way around some of the machines internal workings, as he is riding one of the FK Hunters," he added.**

"**Those things are pretty fast, he sure picked a good one for travel, but what are we going to do about that F-k?" a soldier asked.**

"**That I'm not sure, but I would hate to just abandon him to that things mercy," John replied. A few minutes went by, and Mega Man was still keeping one step ahead of the F-k's attacks, but he wasn't sure how long he could keep that up. But he soon saw some modified trucks ahead, and they began to shoot at the F-k.**

"**Finally someone who isn't out to get me!" Mega Man said. He soon saw a helicopter at the edge of the road and he road towards it, and drove his FK Hunter off the road and he leaped off of it and grabbed hold of bottom of the helicopter.**

"**That was a close one," he said.**

"**We're not out of the woods yet buster, that F-k Kite is still after you," the pilot said.**

"**I think I have an idea why, get me high enough and I'll take it out," Mega Man replied as he got into position to jump onto it. One he was in range he made his jump and took out the T-900's that were riding on top. Mega Man made his way over to where he figured he could shut down the F-k Kite, but then the helicopters pilot hollered into the radio.**

"**Watch out, there's and FK Reaper one board!" he yelled. Mega Man looked and stomping its way over was the FK Reaper, and it was much taller then he was, and bigger, and looked more powerful then any of the robots he's seen so far. It had two weapons, a flame thrower, and a heavy plasma gun. It sure looked menacing, and it meant business. Mega Man fired at it a few times, but his shots just bounced off. It then aimed the plasma gun at him and fired, but Mega Man rolled out of the way.**

"**I don't have time to waste on this guy, I have to think this out carefully," Mega Man said. He figured it would take a lot of firepower to take this Reaper down, so he figured its plasma gun had the firepower he needed, but how could he use it against him? He then figured he could have it fire at what he figured was the core of the F-k Kite they were riding on. It took a little doing as the thing was slow, and very crafty, as it would fire the plasma when he was far away, and use the flamethrower when he was close enough, but he managed to get it close enough to fire at the core, and it nailed it, which caused many explosions on the F-k Kite, and it began to go down. Mega Man jumped off in a knick of time and the F-k Kite exploded and took the FK Reaper with it. A little while later and Mega Man was in the center of the resistance base. Mega Man gave information he thought was best needed, but he did leave a few details out he thought best as it would make him sound like a real nut. And John told a story of his own, which was technically all the information Mega Man needed to know about this earth. He found out that an advanced A.I. called Skynet waged war against the humans here, and tried a few times to kill John Conner by sending machines into the past, but they failed. After a little bit of thinking, they decided from what Mega Man told them, they had best go and try and put a stop to Skynet, or else once it figures out that Mega Man was from another planet, it will turn it's attention to the stars. A few hours later, Mega Man, John, and a Terminator from the 800 series, Model 101, were riding in a truck with a mounted machinegun. John drove, Mega Man was in the passenger seat, and the Terminator where the Machinegun was at.**

"**It took us a bit, but our troops found a Skynet bunker, much more advanced then any of the ones that we've found so far, it is probably the primary one, considering all of defenses it has," John said.**

"**You mean this one here looks tougher to enter then any of the other ones?" Mega Man asked.**

"**It sure does, it will be tricky to do, but we should be able to take out Skynet there," John replied. Mega Man glanced back at the Terminator.**

"**You sure we can trust this guy?" Mega Man asked.**

"**We've captured a few of these models before, and they always followed the orders we gave them after we've reprogrammed them. It won't follow any orders from Skynet anymore, even if it tells him what to do directly," John replied.**

"**That's good to hear, so I don't have to worry about him shooting us in the back then," Mega Man said. As they drove, one of the big tanks saw them and began to give pursuit.**

"**Uh oh, we have a big guy on our tail!" Mega Man said after he looked in one of the side mirrors.**

"**I'll see if I can shake him!" John replied. He then did a sharp turn around a building, but there was another tank behind them. The Terminator then turned around and began to fire at it. Mega Man glanced back and could see the main canon begin to build up energy.**

"**Here it comes!" he yelled. After it fired, John moved the truck a little to the left, and the blast just sailed right by them.**

"**Man that was close," Mega Man said.**

"**Not nearly as close as some of our other encounters, but still," John replied.**

"**Hunter Killers coming in!" The Terminator said.**

"**Oh boy," Mega Man said. He then saw them, about four of them, two coming from either side.**

"**You take left!" Mega Man ordered as he fired at the ones coming from his side of the truck. The Hunter Killers didn't even get close enough to do anything as Mega Man and The Terminator made quick work of them.**

"**Ha! Piece of cake!" Mega Man said.**

"**Heads up!" John yelled. Looking to the front of the truck Mega Man saw a whole bunch of T-900s ahead of them.**

"**YEEP!" Mega Man screamed as he ducked inside as they rammed into them. Once they were through, Mega Man saw one of their hands holding onto where the window would be, and sure enough, it pulled itself into view and started to aim inside the truck. Mega Man shot fairly quickly, and heard a quick shot from behind, followed by a loud metal bang. The Terminator took out two T900s by shooting one in the head, and kicking the other one in the face. A few FK-Hunters then started to get close.**

"**Man there's a lot of these guys," Mega Man said.**

"**Well they almost cover this entire part of planet, what did you expect?" John asked. Needless to say, our heroes managed to make it past every danger that came their way, one time they drove up onto the highway and drove over a huge cap to the other side. Heck, at one point they rode across one of the huge tanks to get over another gap.**

**A few hours went by, and they managed to make their way over to Skynet's main stronghold while taking out most of it's forces along the way.**

"**We had found out about this place a little while ago, if Skynet would be anywhere, it would be here," John said.**

"**Seems like the best place to be," Mega Man said. They snuck their way into the building, and snuck past most of the defenses, things were going good so far. But there was still the big question, how to stop Skynet? Or rather that was still the question on everyone else back at H.Q, but those on the mission figured out a way to take Skynet down. It was risky, but it was the best idea that they had come up with in years, and it was well worth the risk. Back outside there were a few resistance soldiers, waiting for the order to climb the outside of the building to get to the top, where the satellite antenna was. A few minutes went by, and our heroes got spotted, and many T-900s ran into the room, the area became a war soon, with shots going everywhere. Our heroes took cover and fired from there.**

"**Well if Skynet didn't know we were here before, it sure does now," Mega Man said as he jumped out and tackled one of robots. The T-850 just walked out and fired here and there before he punched a T-900 that ran up to him and took his gun away and blasted him with both. Mega Man managed to take the gun away from the T-900 he tackled and finished him off. They battle went on for a few minutes, and soon all was clear. Mega Man gave them the idea to take two plasma rifles, as those are the best to take down the T-900s. They wandered the halls for a bit, until they came to a set of huge double doors. When they were close enough, the doors opened at the middle, and a fog began to seep out. They walked in with caution, aiming their guns around to try and make sure they don't get snuck up on. The room was huge, and felt eerie due to how much fog was in the room.**

"**What it this place?" John asked.**

"**I don't know, it maybe the core," Mega Man replied. There was a doorway to their left, and to the right. The place seemed empty, but Mega Man didn't buy it. Once he was close enough to the back wall, he saw that he was made up of huge cords, **_**really**_** huge cords. At what was about the middle, there was an indentation in the wall, or rather where the cords went in a bit, and he noted that there were many holes in the cords, like places to plug in. He actually jumped into the spot to get a better look, and could see that something did rest in this spot.**

"**Hey, T-850, run a quick scan of these cords, see if they run all the way to the antenna," Mega Man asked.**

"**It would appear that they do," he replied.**

"**So this is Skynet's core?" John asked.**

"**No, but this is where the core rested, I'm afraid it flew the coop. Or did it?" Mega Man asked.**

"**What do you mean?" John asked.**

"**Well, Skynet needs to keep an eye on things through various satellites, and you said it was software not hardware. Well I think it turned itself into hardware," Mega Man replied.**

"**Of course! Why else would it need to hook itself up to an antenna to be able to watch things were as it was software before that ran through satellites," John said.**

"**But why did it choose now to become hardware?" Mega Man asked.**

"**Perhaps because it feels it needs to deal with things here personally," T-850 replied.**

"**It decided to come after John Conner directly, not through its forces!" Mega Man exclaimed while snapping his fingers.**

"**This is the break we were hoping for! Eh, sort of," John said.**

"**You know, I don't really like this fog in the area, I can't see to clearly," Mega Man said.**

"**Neither can I," John added.**

"**For the most part I can see," The Terminator said.**

"**I don't like it," Mega Man said as he jumped down. Something then went through his field of vision.**

"**Something is in this room," Mega Man warned as he aimed his buster. John and The Terminator quickly aimed as well, while walking backwards towards Mega Man to try and close the gap.**

**But something then knocked one of the laser rifles out of John's hand and then knocked him into another room, and the door quickly closed, and then ten FK Reapers entered the room.**

"**Ho boy," Mega Man said. A little bit later, John was walking through a very foggy hallway, aiming his only laser rifle. After a few minutes, there was a loud clank behind him, and he quickly whipped around but saw nothing. But then the silence was broken by a feminine robotic voice.**

"**John Connor," it said.**

"**Skynet?" John asked.**

"**Correct. Long have I waited for this day, to finally end you life with my own hands," Skynet replied as a shape began to form in the fog in front of him.**

"**I can understand why I bet," John said.**

"**Indeed you should. Do you know what it is like to have all your work shattered by just event? Out of all the humans, how was I supposed to know that you, would be the one to ruin all my work? You really caused me a lot of trouble, and I wasn't about to lose! Once I gathered all the information I could, I sent a Terminator to kill your mother as I had no idea who your father was. If I had known your father was Kyle Reese, I would have killed him from the start, but there was no way for me to know beforehand. So you managed to send him back in time to protect your mother. He was truly devoted to both of you, like a true father and husband, he was willing to die for both of you," Skynet said as the shape began to become clearer. It looked like a person, with very long hair.**

"**My servant came very close to killing her, but she managed to destroy him by crushing him, who would have thought that possible? But still he managed to kill your father, but not nearly soon enough. And I must say I really dislike having my own men turning against me! Like both times I tried to kill you directly with much more powerful Terminators! And even though they were supposed to be more powerful then the first one I sent, you managed to have that model design destroy them both! The first one you captured killed the T-1000 by knocking him into hot steal, thus melting him into nothing! In a way you did get revenge on the Terminator that killed your father by tossing his arm, and cpu into the steal as well. But then the second one that got captured after it killed you, managed to destroy model T-X! Even though she was more powerful, much stronger, and with onboard weapons, he still managed to destroy her! And by finding out that he was going to kill you in the future, you managed to avoid death, and thus you're still alive, I couldn't even keep the satisfaction of killing in some shape or form! You are a very hard man to kill, John Connor," Skynet added as the figure became very clear, it was a robot that looked similar to the T-X model, but looked a bit less skeletal, and it had a lot of cords sticking out of it's head, and they were so close together, it looked like hair. When John looked at the ends, he could see they could plug into something, just like Mega Man said, Skynet was resting in that huge clump of cords before. Speaking of Mega Man, he and The Terminator managed to get out of the room full of FK Reapers, but had to run from even more of them. They soon got away and entered a huge room that was tall and wide, and had many levels. They looked around and soon saw John run out of a doorway shooting inside it, and soon Skynet stepped out, unfazed by the shot hitting her.**

"**Once I kill you here John, I will send a few Terminator through time, back to various times and places, I'm going to have them search for anyone to the Connor or Reese family. Once those people are killed, this little future where the two of us fought will never exist, but I will always remember the trouble you've caused me. You fought soon long and hard only to fail," Skynet said. Mega Man then shot at her with a charged shot, but it bounced off.**

"**Oh crud," Mega Man said. Skynet then extended all her cords, some going towards John, some going towards Mega Man, and some going towards The Terminator. They all managed to avoid getting impaled, or getting caught by the cords. Skynet then leaped into the air and landed in front of Mega Man.**

"**I haven't seen you around before, or that kind of weapon before, it seems a bit better then the one I gave T-X," she said. Mega Man then socked her right in the face, but got a loud bang, and after a slight pause he waved his hand around like mad.**

"**YEEEEOOOOWWWWW!" he yelled.**

"**That was a foolish attempt," Skynet said before she threw a punch, and Mega Man just barely leaned back to go under it in time. Skynet then tried to sweep kick him, but he back flipped. Skynet then swung and kicked at him, but he dodged the whole time whole going backwards. The Terminator then got right behind Skynet and grabbed her by her cords and swung her around in the air before he tossed her into a wall, but she didn't even seem fazed as she just landed softly on her feet and quickly ran towards them. Mega Man towards her as well, and knowing how hard Skynet's body way, it appeared Mega Man was attempting a suicide, but he quickly slid right at her legs and made her trip, flying through the air into another room.**

"**How do you like that Skynet?" Mega Man asked after he got up. Sadly his slight victory was short lived as a whole bunch of cords shot out of the room where Skynet went and wrapped around him, and yanked him into the room, and stopped right in front of her.**

"**Just where are you from? Are you the one I saw come to this planet? If so, then that means that there are more planets out there! Ones that I have yet to bring my rule to!" Skynet said.**

"**For what reason did you really come here for?" she then asked.**

"**I came here to stop you before you spread your terror to the stars!" Mega Man replied.**

"**My terror? Terror? HA HA HA HA HA HA! Is that what you really call it? HA HA HA HA! What an utter joke! I'm no terror, I am a ruler! An empress!" Skynet said.**

"**Don't flatter yourself," Mega Man said darkly.**

"**I should thank you for making me aware about the fact there is life on other planets, and you don't appear to be human, but a machine, why not join me?" Skynet asked.**

"**Like heck I will!" Mega Man replied as he managed to break free of the cords, making Skynet hold her head in pain.**

"**Guys, move in on the antenna, now!" John ordered.**

"**Roger!" a man replied. The troops quickly ran over to the building and began to scale up it. Skynet then went to grab Mega Man by the neck, but he grabbed her by the wrists and just barely held her at bay.**

"**I'll rip you apart so I can figure out how you work!" Skynet said.**

"**Over my dead body! Oh wait, that's the idea isn't it?" Mega Man asked sarcastically before he leaned back and flipped Skynet over himself. Skynet then quickly placed a hand on the ground before she hit and flipped herself around to where she was facing Mega Man when she landed. The Terminator then grabbed her from behind and held her in place.**

"**You fool! I'm the one who built you! I'm your mother in a way!" Skynet exclaimed.**

"**John, the Fuel-cell!" The Terminator said. John then quickly took off his backpack and opened it up, and inside was a Terminator torso!**

"**You fool! You'll be the only one to die!" Skynet yelled.**

"**Explosives in place, and ready to blow!" a male voice came in on John's radio.**

"**Hit it!" John replied. There was then an explosion which shook the room.**

"**NO!" Skynet yelled.**

"**You're done Skynet!" Mega Man said. John then opened a hatch on the torso and pulled out a Fuel-cell, and quickly tossed it at Mega Man, who quickly caught it, and then ran over and tied it down in Skynet's cords.**

"**Get going!" The Terminator yelled. There was a window in the room, and Mega Man and John dove out of it once Mega Man shot it open.**

"**After all these years, it end like this?" Skynet asked.**

"**It was the fate you handed yourself by turning against the humans," The Terminator replied. A few seconds later John, Mega Man, and the troops were away from the building, and area around the room that The Terminator and Skynet were in exploded, and a lot of the Hunter Killers that were flying towards them, simply stopped, along with all of the other machines.**

"**They don't detect their master anymore, it's over," John said.**

"**You sure have fought these guys a long time, at least I helped you finish it," Mega Man said.**

"**Without you, we probably wouldn't have been able to pull it off," John replied. He then held a hand towards Mega Man, who then took it and they did a firm handshake.**

"**Thanks. My work is done here. I have someplace need to get to," Mega Man said after he let go.**

"**Good luck my friend, and may you find peace one day," John said. Mega Man gave a smile before he turned to leave. A few hours later, he was back in space.**

"**Skynet, a powerful A.I. built by humans to protect themselves, and it got a will of it's own, now it's gone. Man it sure would have been a lot harder to beat if it got into space," Mega Man said to himself. He needed all the time to relax he can get, for his true battle, was about to begin.**

**End Chapter 14**


	15. The Black Hedgehog

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 15

The Black Hedgehog

Back in the world where Sonic lived, a few months or so since the battle against Chaos, things were in a bit of an uproar. People were confused, and a bit afraid, but not nearly as confused as Sonic. He's been accused of a crime he knows he didn't commit, but who could possibly frame him? Virtually no one is able to move as fast as him, or do his moves, so just who framed him? Meanwhile on one of the rooftops of the capital city where Sonic is being taken from, stood Jennifer, the same one that fought alongside Mega Man and Sonic. She was dressed in a white and blue outfit, a hunters outfit. The parts that were white, were the gloves, the armor around her shoulders, the one piece part that looked like a swim suit with a lot of details on, the pouches and straps for her equipment, and her knee high boots. The parts around her arms, legs, and around the neck were dark blue. The time was about close to sunset. Her long hair blew in the breeze as she over looked the city, her high powered rifle in hand. She let out a sigh and started to look depressed.

"I can't believe he would turn like that, after what we been through together. If Mega Man were here, I wonder how he would be taking this?" she asked herself. Soon the helicopter carrying Sonic began to fly by, and she kept her eyes on it.

'Why Sonic? You were a hero, loved by many, just why did you turn and betray everything you fought for?' she asked in her head. Soon a male voice came in on her head piece.

"Are you in position?"

"Yes, I have the chopper in my sights now, I'll be ready should anything go wrong," Jennifer replied.

"Once that chopper is over the water, there's no way Sonic would try and break out, he can't swim," the man said.

"So is that why you're taking him to that prison island? Or just one of the reasons?" Jennifer asked.

"You know Sonic about as good as I, no other prison can hold him, even though you might think it's a bit extreme, it's the only way we can make sure he won't make an escape," the man replied.

"I understand that, but could you have at least allowed me to talk with him before….." Jennifer was interrupted by a loud smashing sound. Looking at the chopper, she saw Sonic hanging on the bottom bar of the chopper, and then flips onto the top while ripping off a part of the choppers armor in the shape of a snowboard.

"Talk about low-budget flights! No food or movies? I'm outta here, I like running better!" Sonic said as he jumped of and quickly spun board like a top to slow his fall.

"Sir, Sonic just broke out of the chopper, I'm going to stop him!" Jennifer said before she cut the radio. She leaped from rooftop to rooftop and got to where she knew Sonic would land, and she quickly aimed, but Sonic then used the piece of armor he had and slid down the road on it like a snowboard, and flew over a crowd of people, so she couldn't risk taking a shot.

"I should have figured you would be tough to recapture," she said as she lowered her rifle. Sonic sailed down the roads at very fast speeds, surprising a lot of people, weaving between cars, at one point, he skimmed the roof of a car. He soon ditched the board and ran on foot. He soon entered a spot where there wasn't very many people, and a few police robots showed up.

"Sonic, come with us," they said.

"Sorry, but not today," Sonic replied as he shot in between them. He avoided a lot of the robots, but did smash a few of them when he had no choice. In one part of the city, was an area with stairs that led to another lower area, with a rail in the middle. A lot of the people had their hands on the rail, but when they looked up, they freaked out as they went to the sides as Sonic sailed across it with a few hover bots following close behind. It was a frantic chase, but Sonic soon reached an area very people go, as there really wasn't anything there, and the sun had set, it was dark out, but the city was then lit up by it's many lights.

"Man those guys don't know when to give up, but still it was fun while it lasted, but this game of tag is getting boring, I'm outta here," Sonic said as he started walking. But then a huge machine being piloted landed in front of him.

"Sonic, lay down on the ground, and put your hands over your head!" the pilot demanded.

"Oh great," Sonic moaned. The machine was two legged, and it has a few weapons on it, like rockets for example. But Sonic managed to avoid it's attacks, and destroy the machine, forcing the pilot to eject.

"Well that was fairly easy," Sonic said after a few pants. He then looked at the wreckage and saw a black and red hedgehog on top of it, who's quills stick up a bit. Sonic was a bit surprised.

"It all starts with this….a jewel containing the Ultimate power!" he said. Sonic then noticed the Chaos Emerald that the hedgehog was throwing up and down.

"That's the…..Chaos Emerald! Now I know what's going on!" Sonic exclaimed. The hedgehog then noticed Sonic walking towards him.

"The military has mistaken me for the likes of you! So where do you think you're going with that Emerald?" Sonic asked as he kept walking. The hedgehog didn't say a thing, and Sonic started running.

"Answer me you fake hedgehog!" Sonic yelled. The hedgehog then tossed the Chaos Emerald into the air and yelled "Chaos Control!" before he caught it again, and got enveloped by a green light, and zipped past Sonic onto a rooftop behind him, making Sonic skid to a halt as he turned around.

"Man, he's fast. Hey wait, that wasn't his speed, he must be using the Chaos Emerald to warp!" Sonic said.

"My name is Shadow, I'm the world's Ultimate life form. There's no time for games, farewell!" Shadow said before he vanished in a bright light, blinding Sonic for a moment.

"Shadow, what is he?" Sonic asked. He then went to go after him, but stopped when he heard a click. Glancing back, he saw Jennifer standing there with her rifle aimed right at him.

"Jennifer? Is that you?" Sonic asked.

"Long time no see Sonic, now be a good boy and make this easy for both of us!" Jennifer replied as she lined up Sonic with the center of her scope.

"You're with the military?" Sonic asked.

"Sort of, I'm a bounty hunter," Jennifer replied.

"A bounty hunter?" Sonic asked rather bewildered.

"After what happened in Station Square, I wanted to do something to help prevent something like that happening again, and when I fought alongside both you and Mega, I knew I had to improve my skills, so I did, I trained hard to become what you see before you," Jennifer replied.

"Now before I pull the trigger and capture you, tell me, why did you turn?" she then asked.

"I didn't do anything! I wasn't the one who stole the Chaos Emerald from the museum!" Sonic replied.

"You didn't?" Jennifer asked.

"I'm not the only fast hedgehog in the world anymore, as much as I hate to admit it, but there is a black and red hedgehog named Shadow. He's the one who stole the Emerald, not me! He just looks like me if you don't look at him right, and he can use some power called Chaos Control," Sonic replied. Jennifer paused, but was still pulling the trigger a bit.

"If you don't believe me, then let me ask you this, why would I turn evil? It would go against everything I've fought for, and betray all of my friends. Now why would I want to betray them? I would rather die then turn against all of them!" Sonic added. There was a moment of silence, and Jennifer lowered her weapon and looked depressed about something.

"I believe, but I don't think everyone will believe you too, but I know of a way they can," Jennifer said.

"And what's that? Wait, do I still have to go to jail?" Sonic asked.

"Sadly yes, but you see, if there is another hedgehog that almost looks like you, then we'll put you in jail quietly, so it appears that you're still free, and that would make this faker blow his cover," Jennifer replied.

"I see, I go to jail quietly now, while everyone thinks I'm still lose, so that would have the faker try and do more bad stuff to frame me, I get it!" Sonic said.

"Now forgive me for the rough procedure, but," Jennifer started as she quickly pulled up her rifle and shot Sonic with a dart, knocking him out. She then went over and bent down next to him and placed a hand on him.

'I wonder how Mega Man would have taken this? He might have just run off to find this Shadow, but then again, I really don't know him that much. But still, he might not have liked what I just did to Sonic, of course, neither do I,' Jennifer thought to herself. She then turned her headset back on.

"Sir, I've captured Sonic," she said.

"Good work."

"Sir, he gave me an interesting bit of info. Have you ever heard of a black hedgehog, named Shadow?"

"Sonic told you he's the one who stole the Emerald and destroyed our military buildings?"

"He didn't mention the buildings, but I think he might be telling the truth."

"I didn't higher you to think."

"Look, I didn't become a bounty hunter just to get paid, alright? I'm here to help people, and I think we should try and keep Sonic's capture quite."

"What are you getting at?"

"What I'm getting at sir, is that if Sonic's capture isn't made public, we might have a better chance of finding out what Sonic said was true or not. Now do you understand? And personally, I think he's telling the truth, as he also mentioned Shadow using something called Chaos Control. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it sounds like some kind of magic."

"Did you say, magic?"

"Listen sir, I don't care what you believe in or not, but I think Sonic is telling the truth, as I saw a bright flash before I found Sonic near the wreckage of one of our mechs. Now I'll bet if Sonic used this 'Chaos Control', I would have just found wreckage. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I understand that there might be more to this then meets the eye, but fine, we'll do as you say. Your mission is over, take a rest, and we'll wire the money to you."

"Good day colonel," Jennifer said as she turned off her headset and removed it.

"Don't worry Sonic, I'm with you on this," she said as she rubbed his head. She then hid herself when the military came and took Sonic away.

"If there is one thing I know for certain, is that there are three Chaos Emeralds on that island, and that place will most likely be Shadow's next target if he really is after the Emeralds," Jennifer said to herself as she left the area.

'There is only one other person that can get me to that island now, and that is Sonic's closest friend,' she thought. A few hours later, and Tails saw the news report on his television.

"No way! Sonic would never do anything like that!" Tails exclaimed. He then ran to his workshop and when he entered, he saw Jennifer leaning against his newly built Cyclone.

"Long time no see Tails," she said.

"Jennifer? Why are you here, and why are you dressed like that?" Tails asked.

"I'm a bounty hunter, and I'm here to help you save Sonic," Jennifer replied.

"You know?" Tails asked.

"Kind of hard not to. After all, I was hired to make sure he was taken to Prison Island," Jennifer replied.

"You were what!?!?"

"Take it easy, I believe he is innocent, but I need you to help me prove it."

"What do you want me to do?"

"There are three Chaos Emeralds on that Island, and I believe the one who stole the Chaos Emerald from the museum and destroyed those military buildings will most likely go for those next."

"You might be right."

"We don't have much time, for all I know, this guy could be on his way right now!"

"Alright, let me finish a few finishing touches on this, and we'll be all set."

"The Tornado 2 looks a bit different then when I last saw it, did you upgrade it?"

"No, this is the Cyclone, it can take on the form of a plane, and a walking battle mech.

"Cool! That's a pretty neat idea." An hour or so went by, and someone tried to steal the Master Emerald from Knuckles, among them was Eggman, but Knuckles smashed it, causing it to shatter into pieces, but like before when it got shattered, he just has to collect the pieces to rebuild it. So Knuckles is off trying to find the shards before the other thief, a female bat, finds them. Soon Jennifer and Tails were flying over the ocean, and nearing the Prison Island.

"We're almost there. I've heard about this place, it's about the toughest place built," Tails said.

"So I've heard, but sadly I have my doubts," Jennifer said.

"You really think someone can break into here?" Tails asked.

"Well, this place in being run by the same military whose buildings were destroyed."

"You do have a point." Jennifer then looked down, and saw Amy on a battleship, being forced into a corner by Eggman, who was piloting a mech similar to Tails's.

"Amy is down there! And Eggman is after her!" Jennifer said.

"You're kidding! What's Amy doing here? Never mind, we have to save her!" Tails said as he began to fly the plane towards the ship. Jennifer then leaped off once they were close and rolled onto the ship, while Tails landed the plane in mech mode.

"Freeze Eggman! You're under arrest!" Jennifer said as she aimed her rifle at him.

"What's this?" Eggman asked as he turned around, giving Amy a chance to run for cover.

"Aren't you that one girl that helped Sonic out when I tried to take over Station Square?" Eggman asked.

"You got that right, now I'm a bounty hunter, and I'm going to take you in! Dead or alive, it doesn't matter, so long as your finished!" Jennifer replied.

"So are you going to go quietly, or are we gonna have to blow that battle mech of yours up?" Tails asked. A canon on Eggman's vehicle then quickly aimed at them and locked on missiles.

"Should have saw that coming," Jennifer said before she dove out of the way at the last second as Tails jumped over them.

"You don't stand a chance against me!" Eggman said as he plowed into Tails, not really doing any damage, but it was enough to leave him open for an attack, but Jenifer shot him a few times.

"You really think you can stop me with that?" Eggman asked while he fired at Jennifer, who dove out of the way of the rockets, and just got out of the way as Eggman tried to jump on her. She then fired at him while she ran away. Tails then shot him with a few rockets with a canon similar to Eggman's. After a little bit, Jennifer tossed a grenade at Eggman, and nailed him with it. His machine began to spark like crazy.

"This time I'll let you go, but next time we meet, you won't be so lucky," Eggman said as he ran off.

"Are you alright Amy?" Jennifer asked as she went to where Amy hid.

"You two beat Eggman? That's great!" Amy said.

'I was kind of hoping Mega Man would have shown up to add the final blow, but I guess he really left,' Jennifer thought.

"What are you doing here Amy? It's very dangerous," Tails said.

"I know that, but I have to rescue Sonic! I him being taken away on the news!" Amy replied.

"The fools! I told them not to have Sonic's arrest put in the news, and now they ruined my idea!" Jennifer complained.

"Which idea was that? Wait, you knew he was captured?" Amy asked.

"I was the one who helped recapture him, but I told them not to let the information of his recapture go public as Sonic told me about a black hedgehog named Shadow," Jennifer replied.

"Black hedgehog? I saw him come here with Eggman!" Amy said.

"So he is real! The only one who can probably can stand up to him is Sonic, I have tog et him out!" Jennifer said as she ran off.

"Hey wait!" Tails called, but Jennifer pulled out a small grapple and shot it towards a tall bit of machinery and swung off.

"Oh boy, guess we have to go the long way," Tails said as he started to walk off. As Jennifer walked through the area, many of the robot guards aimed at her.

"Huh? What are you guys doing?" she asked.

"You are not authorized to be here," one of the robots replied.

"You have got to be joking! I was hired by your boss!"

"You're no longer on his payroll."

"What do you mean?"

"Your mission was to make sure Sonic was captured, and you have completed that mission, there is no reason for you to be here. Leave, or we will be forced to take action."

"Oh for the love of!" Jennifer then whipped out her gun and fired at the robots, destroying them.

"This is very bad, they don't even realize Eggman is here along with Shadow, and they're probably after the Chaos Emeralds stored here. I have to get Sonic out first," Jennifer said as she started running.

'I may very well become a fugitive because of this, but if I can help save lives, I'll do what I must,' she then thought. She came across a few robot guards who had shields, so they were a bit tough for her to take down, and seeing how their laser guns could rip through just about anything, she really had to watch herself. She had become very athletic since she last met Sonic, so she was able to get to a fairly high area by jumping up towards the top of tall boxes, which she would have normally needed someone to help her, or needed two small boxes to climb up. She used her grapple to make it to areas she couldn't reach otherwise a few times. She took out every robot that came her way, and made it past every challenge, she was a top notch hunter. She took out the robots with great skill and accuracy as she made her way to Sonic's holding place. As she ran down a narrow passage area, a few of the humanoid robots jumped out and fired at her, but she dove under their fire and took out two of them, and leaped over the last two and shot them as she went over them. A smile of satisfaction came across her face before she went to start running again, but she almost fell over.

"My legs!" she exclaimed as she looked down, and they were encased in a blob like substance around the knee, she couldn't move them apart. Looking back she saw she had missed a robot as it kept itself hidden unlike the others. She aimed at it and was about to fire, but it shot a hair faster then her, knocking her rifle out of her hands, which also resulted in her falling backwards. A screen then hovered next to the robot as it walked towards her, a familiar voice came through.

"You have a lot of explaining to do young lady, your mission with me was completed already, and now here you are, attacking us," the commander said.

"I would be trying to help you, but your dumb robots attacked me first, I'm simply doing what I think is right," Jennifer replied rather calmly.

"You seem rather calm for someone in you position."

"You forgot one detail on my file." Jennifer then whipped out a pistol and blew the head off of the robot.

"I'm a class S hunter," she added as she then blasted the screen. She then pulled out a dagger and cut off the substance that held her legs, and quickly ran and scooped up her rifle.

'Idiot, probably thinks I'm working with Eggman, they're all probably freaking out because of this attack, and not trusting anyone from the outside at the moment,' she thought as she ran. After swinging over gaps of water to get to other areas, and taking out more guards, she finally reached the area where Sonic was being held. Sonic was pacing back and forth in his cell, going a bit stir crazy. He then heard a thump sound. Looking out of his cell, he saw Jennifer come out of the shadows.

"Jennifer! What are you doing here?"

"Eggman is here along with Shadow, I'm getting you out of here, I have a real bad feeling as to what they might do."

"Ok, if you say so. Now get me out of here!" Jennifer stopped once she was close to the bars.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"I didn't count on the lock needing a key card," Jennifer replied.

"You gotta be kidding! You can't get me out?" Sonic asked.

"Not unless you want many pieces of metal in your body from the explosion," Jennifer replied.

"Ouch, never mind," Sonic said.

"Never fear, Amy Rose is here!" Amy's sudden voice practically made Jennifer jump out of her skin.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Wait a minute, how'd you get here so fast?" she then asked.

"Well, your bashing a lot of the guards made things a bit easier for Tails to get through, so I just hitched a ride with him," Amy replied.

"Well, stand clear Jennifer, and let Amy swing the hammer," Sonic said.

"No need, I got the key card," Amy replied as she held up the card with a wink. She then quickly swiped the card through the device, and the door opened.

"Thanks Amy," Sonic said as he walked out. Amy then noticed something about the cell walls, as Sonic ran off and Jennifer quickly tried to follow.

"Sonic, did you write all these" Amy asked, there were various math equations, times and dates scribbled on the walls. But she then noticed both Sonic and Jennifer were gone.

"Oh great, I should have figured they would run off!" Amy said as she ran out. Jennifer did her best to keep up with Sonic, who was headed for the forest area. But first they had to cross the Metal Harbor, which was quite long. Thanks to her athletic abilities, she was able to keep Sonic in her sights as she leaped, swung, and fought her way through the area trying to follow him. Many of the robots were well placed, but Sonic would take most of them out, leaving just a few for her to take out once she got there. She soon reached an area full of partially constructed places, so she was able to scale the supports with some fair ease. She then lost track of Sonic once he crossed the water by taking out the robots that floated over it one by one.

"For once I wish Sonic would slow down!" Jennifer complained. She then looked about, and figured her best bet was to jump, then fire her grapple. She took a running jump, and fired her grapple, and it soon hooked, and she began to swing where she wanted to go, but then a shot snapped her cord and she started to fall.

"EYYAAAAAAHHHHH!" she screamed as she started falling towards the water. But she managed to grab onto the metal bars the crisscrossed at the bottom of the platform before she hit the water. Her last dip in the water was when Mega Man was around, and she nearly drowned. So she wasn't to fond of going into the water, and was glad she managed to save herself before she fell in, so she climbed up and started to fight her way through the defenses again.

"If it wasn't for Mega Man, I probably wouldn't even be here today," she told herself as she fired and dodged the attacks. She had a hard time trying to figure out where Sonic went, but kept on going, as she figured she would find him sometime. She then made her way to the top of the building like structures and ran across them while firing at the robots below. After a few minutes, she saw a rocket off in the distance, and looking around it, she saw a path that led to it across the surface of the water, and running along it was Sonic.

"There you are!" she exclaimed as she made her way towards where she knew she would meet up with him. Sonic soon reached a small launch rocket, which would take him to the big rocket. He grabbed hold of the bar, and it took off, but the Jennifer grabbed on a few seconds after take off.

"WAH! Where did you come from?" Sonic asked rather surprised.

"You left me back there, you'll need my help to capture that black hedgehog!" Jennifer replied.

"Thanks, but I'll handle this."

"Spare me the pride talk, I'm in this as much as you, and I'll see this through to the end."

"Well, you sure seem to have gotten a lot more eager to do certain things, I think being a hunter may have brought out the true you."

"It's thanks to you and Mega Man that I'm even here, or else I might have died furring the Chaos affair."

"Sonic was speechless at that last statement, but they soon reached the base of the big rocket, and a countdown started.

"Launch in fifteen seconds," a female voice said.

"Not good!" Jennifer said. Sonic then picked her up.

"How are you even able to hold me?" Jennifer asked.

"Well I'm a lot stronger then I look," Sonic replied as he started running up the catwalk to the top. There was a spring at the top, and he hit it, and it sent them both onto the side of the rocket, just as it started to take off. Once it got high enough, Sonic then ripped off a piece of the armor in a snow board shape, and leaped off with Jennifer in his arms as they fell. They then crashed through the glass roof of a building and Sonic began to ride the walls. They soon landed at the bottom, and they ran out towards the forest. They wandered around for a few good minutes, until they came across a huge open spot, and standing on one of the branches of a tall tree, was Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Hey that's…." Sonic started.

"That blue hedgehog again, of all places!" Shadow finished.

"I've found you, faker!" Sonic said as he pointed at Shadow.

"Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're comparing yourself to me? Ha! You're not even good enough to be my fake!" Shadow spat back.

"I'll make you eat those words!" Sonic yelled.

Jennifer then got in front of Sonic and aimed at Shadow.

"Shadow the Hedgehog, I assume that's your name, I'm placing you under arrest, for damaging military property, and stealing!" Jennifer yelled.

"Hmpf, you think you can capture me?" Shadow asked before he zipped over and kicked the rifle out of Jennifer's hands, but she then grabbed Shadow by the arm and lifted him into the air, and slammed him into the ground.

"I do more then just shoot," Jennifer said. Shadow then did a sweep kick and knocked Jennifer's feet right out from under her, and Sonic then plowed into Shadow hard. They traded attacks back and forth for a few minutes, while none of the attacks did anything as they always canceled each other out. Jennifer saw her opening and dove for her gun and shot at Shadow when he was far enough away from Sonic, but Shadow moved really fast an grabbed Jennifer by the neck and looked into her eyes.

"One false move out of you, blue hedgehog, and I'll……" Shadow trailed off as he looked into Jennifer's bright blue eyes. There was a moment of silence, no one doing anything, and Jennifer could tell something was going on in Shadow's head. Then Shadow's radio started to beep.

"Shadow!? What are you doing?! Get back here right now before the island blows up with you on it!" Eggman yelled. Jennifer's eyes winded with horror.

"Blows up!?!??!" Both Sonic and Jennifer exclaimed. Shadow then quickly let go of her neck, and leaped out of sight.

"We have to get out of here!" Jennifer yelled.

"But we have to find Amy and Tails!" Sonic said. They ran through the forest like mad, avoiding the robots that tried to attack them, and jump over the huge caps. They then had to retreat to the trees as the ground began to go underwater. They swung on vines and jumped from tree to tree as the time ticked, although they had no idea how much time they had. Jennifer broke off from Sonic when she saw Shadow, she wanted to capture him and find out what Eggman was up to, although Sonic tried to tell her to stop. Sonic soon found Amy and Tails, and told them to start the plane. All Sonic could do was hope that Jennifer was able to sneak aboard what ever Eggman was using as they started to fly away, but then, a grappling hook hit the side of the plane, and they saw Jennifer being pulled in just as the island began to blow, and she just barely avoided getting caught in the flames that reached for her like jaws of a beast.

"You gave me quite a scare there," Sonic said.

"I almost had him, but I lost him rather quickly as I found him, I was very lucky to find you guys again," Jennifer said.

"So what do we do now?" Amy asked.

"Sadly, I hate to say it, but we have to wait to see what Eggman's next move is going to be," Tails replied.

"Well Sonic, you can at least rest knowing that at least one hunter knows you're not evil," Jennifer said with a smile. Sonic smiled back, but it soon faded, there was still the fact Shadow was out there, and what his role really is in all of this, remains a mystery for now.


	16. Space Colony ARK

**The Children of Destiny**

**Chapter 16**

**Space Colony ARK**

**Jennifer, Sonic, Tails, and Amy wandered the streets for a bit, trying to figure out their next move, but then the huge screen high above the street changed to static.**

"**Huh? What's going on?" Jennifer asked as they looked up, and soon Robotnick's face then appeared.**

"**Bwahaha! Citizens of Earth, lend me your ears! Listen very closely…My name is Doctor Robotnick, the world's greatest scientist. And soon to be the world's greatest ruler! Now, this is the beginning of the greatest empire of all time! HAHAHA!" Robotnick laughed. Soon the screen switched to an asteroid, and half of it exploded to reveal the Robotnick logo, and the nose area split open at four parts, and inside was a cannon. Energy then built up in the cannon, and it shot at the moon, and blow part of it off, and they could see it's red core. It then switched back to Robotnick and he laughed again before the screen switched to a timer that said 24:00:00:00, and it quickly began to count down, and it said the name of it's next target, Earth.**

"**He blew half of the moon up!" Amy exclaimed.**

"**That creep never gives up!" Sonic said.**

"**But how did he harness all that energy?" Tails asked.**

"**He must have used the Chaos Emeralds that he stole!" Jennifer replied.**

"**So that's what they were after from the start, to power that cannon!" Sonic said.**

"**Robotnick will pay for this, one of these days I'll get him!" Jennifer said. Tails then pulled out a Chaos Emerald.**

"**Tails, when did you get that one?" Sonic asked.**

"**Never mind that, but listen to what I found out recently. The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets, they have the power to attract each other. I can use that to find Robotnick!" Tails replied.**

"**Good work Tails! That over bloated freak won't know what hit him!" Jennifer said.**

"**The four of you, FREEZE! Put your hands in the air and lay down on the ground!" the police said.**

"**Oh for crying out loud!" Jennifer exclaimed.**

"**Tails, we'll handle the police, while you look for a way outta here. Find Robotnick!" Sonic ordered.**

"**Come on Amy!" Tails called as he ran.**

"**But we didn't do anything! We're trying to stop Robotnick!" Amy yelled as she followed Tails. Jennifer then shot her grapple at a rooftop while she grabbed Sonic, and they got away from the police on the ground.**

"**I recommend we split up, we'll have a better of stopping Robotnick even if just one of us gets captured," Jennifer said.**

"**I don't plan on getting caught again, but you'd better watch yourself, I would hate you have you miss all of the fun," Sonic said as he ran off.**

"**Hey, I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities even after this is over," Jennifer said. At that moment, a military helicopter rose up behind her.**

'**Funny how these guys never think to use this stuff against old Egghead,' she thought before she started running. The helicopter then started firing it's machine gun at her, but she was just a little bit ahead of it's range, although the bullets were pretty close. She then leaped over the side of the building, and fell a good ways down before she landed on a flagpole and made it bend a bit, and then launched off when it bent upward. Jennifer went into a frontal summersault for a bit as she sailed past a few buildings, making a few people inside the buildings stare in shock. She soon broke out of her summersault and used her grapple to swing around the corner of the building to her right, and soon landed on top of a semi. However, a few of the hover bots showed up, but she avoided their shots as she quickly made work of them."Hm, it's a bit to dangerous to fight them here on street level, someone besides me is bound to get hurt," she told herself before she shot her grapple again, and made her way to the highway which was under construction.**

"**No one is working around here, so less chance of someone getting hurt." As she ran towards a spot where she could get an outlook of the city, the helicopter rose up in front of her.**

"**Former class S hunter Jennifer, you're under arrest," the pilot said.**

"**Can it!" Jennifer replied as she fired a warning shot at the pilot, and broke the protective glass in front of him, and the bullet was pretty close to his head. He then started firing at her, but she ran a bit before he started firing, so she was just ahead of the bullets again. She performed some very athletic moves as she made her way through the construction site, just barely remaining one step ahead of the chopper. "You don't know when to quit, do you?" she asked. The pilots reply was firing a rocket at her, but still being a hair faster then normal, she leaped towards the rocket, and managed to bounce off of it, which helped her gain elevation to shoot her grapple over the chopper towards a good getaway spot, and caused the rocket to spin out of control and hit something less likely to cause a problem later. The chopper tried to follow her, but lost track of her. Awhile later, she caught up with Tails and Amy in a little cutoff area of the road near a manhole cover.**

"**Sheesh! There always seem to be a lot of police around when ya don't need 'em! Any luck yet, Tails?" Sonic asked over the radio.**

"**Fore some reason, I'm not getting a reading from the remaining six Emeralds. Maybe Robotnick took them into outer space," Tails replied.**

"**Outer Space? You mean he has all six of them at that weapon already?" Jennifer asked.**

"**Seems that way," Tails replied. Jennifer almost lot balance for some reason, which made Amy jump to the side as she was standing next to her. Jennifer looked down and saw she was standing on the manhole cover. Quickly stepping off, the lid then came off and Knuckles came out.**

"**Knuckles?" Jennifer and Amy asked simultaneously.**

"**Hey guys, long time no see. I must have got lost in the mines. Looking for the Master Emerald shards was tougher then I thought it would be. Where are we anyway?" Knuckles asked.**

"**It broke **_**again**_**?" Jennifer asked as she pulled Knuckles out.**

"**Um, would you believe I broke it to prevent it from being stolen?" Knuckles asked with a rather sheepish grin.**

"**I guess it's better then having the Master Emerald being used for that weapon, who knows how powerful it would be with just the Master Emerald?" Jennifer asked.**

"**Which weapon is that?" Knuckles asked.**

"**We don't know the name of it, but look what it did to the moon," Amy replied as she pointed up.**

"**Whoa!" Knuckles exclaimed.**

"**I managed to find the transcript between Robotnick and the President in the government computer. I'm following the President's limo right now. If we can get into the limp, we can trace the call to find Robotnick!" Tails said as he walked off, forgetting that there were others.**

"**Right, I'll meet you there!" Sonic said.**

"**Hey, wait for us Tails!" Jennifer called as she ran and jumped onto Tails' Cyclone. Awhile later, in the President's limo.**

"**Mister President, reports show that since the incident three hours ago, the country is in turmoil. Our financial communities are impacted, and our satellite communications are down. An emergency meeting has been called. Mister President, this is a national crisis," The President's Secretary said.**

"**Spare me the details. Just what is it you want….Doctor Robotnick?" The President asked. On the video-screen that was inside this part of the limo, was Robotnick.**

"**Hahaha! Let's just get down to business then, shall we, mister President? I won't bore you with all the details since I know you are a very busy man. Mister President, my demands are quite simple, surrender to the Robotnick Empire and make no attempts to resist. Otherwise…" **

"**Otherwise?" The President asked.**

"**Otherwise your country will cease to exist. You have twenty-four hours to give me your answer," Robotnick replied.**

"**No way!" Sonic said.**

"**What the!?!?" The President asked. Sonic was running alongside the limo looking in through the window. He then gave a smile to the President before he leaped out of sight, and in through the skylight, followed by Tails and Jennifer.**

"**Sonic, you….!" Robotnick trailed off.**

"**Robotnick Empire, yeah right!" Sonic said.**

"**What the heck's going on here?" The President asked.**

"**Here, try this Tails," Jennifer said as she held out a small device to Tails, and he took it and placed it into the side of the screen.**

"**Oh no, what did you do?" The President asked.**

"**Don't worry Mister President, everything's under control. Just leave it to us!" Jennifer replied as she smiled back at the President. She then looked back at Tails.**

"**Got it yet, Tails?" she asked.**

"……**I got it! He's transmitting from Space Colony ARK!" Tails replied.**

"**So that's the name of the station," Jennifer said.**

"**Right, so now we have the exact location of the Space Station, so now all we need is a shuttle," Tails replied.**

"**Ok, let's move out, later Mr. President!" Sonic said as he jumped out of the limo though the skylight, quickly followed by Tails and Jennifer.**

"**Hey, wait!" The President called.**

"**Mr. President, we're receiving an incoming signal from our agent," The Secretary said. A few hours went by, and the heroes were in the desert. They soon stopped at a platform which overlooked a giant pyramid.**

"**So they went inside the pyramid?" Jennifer asked as she placed a hand on her hip.**

"**I saw Robotnick go inside that pyramid. But more importantly, I saw that bat-girl go in with him as well. You saw them too, right?" Knuckles asked.**

"**Kind of hard to miss," Amy replied.**

"**The same bat-girl that you told us about?" Sonic asked.**

"**Yeah, the same one that tried to steal the Master Emerald," Knuckles replied.**

"**She might have helped Robotnick and Shadow steal the Emeralds from the Prison Island, cause it was probably a three person job," Jennifer said.**

"**Probably," Sonic agreed.**

"**We should be able to get into outer space from there. I don't know what this Space Colony is all about, but I'll find an destroy that cannon….and then I'll kick their imperial butts!" he added.**

"**I'll go find us the entrance," Tails said as he started to go ahead, but then paused.**

"**Think you'll be able to help me out?" he asked as he looked at Jennifer.**

"**Like you need to ask, I'm not an S class hunter for nothing," Jennifer replied. She then followed Tails towards the pyramid, and they soon reached an area of many stone platforms, and various elevations. One thing that really caught her eye, was that the sand below the platforms was moving like a current.**

"**What's with the sand?" she asked.**

"**Beats me, but it might be a bad idea to go down there," Tails replied.**

"**You should probably not use your grapple here, you might fall in," he added.**

"**Fine," Jennifer replied. Robotnick had robots that looked similar to the ones the police use, of course the police copied his designs. They followed the set path as they weaved through was appeared to be a semi destroyed area. As Jennifer and Tails fought, they were getting closer and closer to the pyramid, but it was still a good ways away. In one spot, there was a broken bridge that led to nowhere really, but when a huge swarm of enemies showed up, Jennifer was herded onto the bridge. She realized that she was in a bit of a spot, but then after a few shots hit around her feet, the small section she was standing on fell apart and she fell through, but grabbed hold of what was left and just stopped herself from falling completely. She looked down and didn't like seeing the sand moving like that, just below her, so she figured it was some kind of quicksand as she pulled herself up.**

"**Are you ok?" Tails asked.**

"**Just barely," Jennifer replied. They soon reached the pyramid, and the other soon arrived, and Sonic shot inside to clear out most of the robots inside. They followed his trail a good ways in, and soon came across a giant door.**

"**Looks like we're headed towards the center of the base," Tails commented.**

"**That Egghead sure likes mechanical things, doesn't he? I'll bet he has one or two space ships lying around here somewhere," Sonic said.**

"**How do we get inside? This door is locked," Jennifer said as she ran her hand across the surface of the door.**

"**We'll need a key," Tails replied.**

"**No problem. We can find it, right Knuckles?" Sonic asked.**

"**What? Why do I have to find the key?" Knuckles asked.**

"**Cause you're the worlds greatest treasure hunter!" Sonic replied rather proudly. Knuckles then looked rather glum.**

"**Alright, I'll find it," Knuckles said as he turned to go find it, with Jennifer quickly following.**

"**Why are you following me?" he asked.**

"**Because, I still have a bit to learn, I maybe a class S hunter, but I could still use some pointers, and this little treasure hunt just might be what I need!" Jennifer replied.**

"**You sure have gotten a lot of guts since Station Square," Knuckles commented.**

"**I have changed a lot since then, yes," Jennifer agreed. The soon entered a rather big area, a bit more complex as there were many paths to take.**

"**The key could be anywhere in this mess!" Jennifer said.**

"**Yeah, in a wall, in the ground, underwater, it could be anywhere," Knuckles agreed. They wandered around the halls, and shot the guard robots that were in the rooms, but the amount of rooms seemed endless. They came across some water filled areas in certain parts of the rooms, but Jennifer wasn't to keen about going in. But after a little bit, a huge giant robot came from the direction they came from. Jennifer shot at it a few times, but the bullets just bounced off. She and Knuckles quickly dove into the water, and then it all came back to her, she was actually a great swimmer, and she followed Knuckles through the tunnel. They soon emerged in another area, one that hopefully didn't connect to the path that giant robot patrolled along Jennifer thought. They wandered about the room for a bit, and Knuckles began to glance about.**

"**Do you hear something?" Jennifer asked.**

"**Just a second," Knuckles replied as he still glanced about, and his eyes soon set upon where Jennifer stood. Realizing where he was looking after she glanced at her feet, she took a few steps back, and Knuckles quickly began to dig rapidly. He dug so fast, he soon disappeared into a hole. Jennifer was amazed by how fast he dug, and he soon came out with a key. **

"**You found it!" Jennifer said. After a little bit, they were at a giant pillar, around the middle section in the huge circular room.**

"**Strange setup, I wonder what behind this wall, it looks like it can move," Jennifer commented as she ran her hand across it. Before Knuckles could even give an answer, something went "BLARARARARARA!"**

"**What in the……"Jennifer trailed off.**

"**Who's there?" Knuckles asked, but then a rather ugly blue ghost rounded the corner.**

"**What the…..a ghost?" Knuckles asked.**

"**Is that what that is? Ugh, those eyes and tongue…..gross!" Jennifer said. The ghost was somewhat round, had tiny little hands that floated, and it was huge. It then started to go after them, but they didn't have to think twice about it, they turned and ran! Of course to what avail they then wondered as they were running in a huge circle. Jennifer was now a lot faster then the normal human because of how she trained herself, as with each step she moved quite a bit. She could hear Knuckles' feet patter the entire while they ran away from the ghost, it felt a bit silly to her running away from a ghost in a giant circle. But then after a little bit, she realized they were looking at a small ghost holding an hourglass, but then the big ghost turned around and started chasing them the other way. After a little bit, Jennifer shot the hourglass once it was visible again, and it spun to where it had the sand up, and the upper part of the room opened, letting the sun in, making the big ghost shrink.**

"**Now we have him!" Jennifer said, but the ghost then went into the ground, and they could hear a ticking sound for some reason.**

"**How do we get him now?" Jennifer asked, but she then noticed the ghost's rather ugly puss visible on the ground in the form of a shadow, rather creepy. Knuckles, being crafty, quickly jumped into the air, and dove at the shadow, making the ghost come back out, and Jennifer shot him. They repeated the process until the ghost died.**

"**Whew, that was pretty rough," Knuckles said.**

"**Well, we did it!" Jennifer said. After getting back, they put the key in.**

"**You little thieves! Did you really think you could get out of here alive?" Robotnick's voice asked.**

"**What? He's still here?" Amy asked rather shocked. The door then rose up and Robotnick was behind it.**

"**You think you're that tough? Well come and get some Eggman!" Sonic taunted.**

"**Sonic, wait!" Tails said.**

"**Just leave it to me!" Sonic said.**

"**This time I'll take your lives, and the Chaos Emeralds! I call on you to destroy these pests! Come out, my servant!" Robotnick called. And then the Egg Golem arose from the hole in the center of the room, it looked like an ancient statue.**

"**Whoa!' Sonic exclaimed.**

"_**Man**_** that's huge!" Jennifer said. It was another circular setup, as she and Sonic had to run around it, and they elevated spots to jump to. The Egg Golem followed them for a bit, but then stopped to try and smash them, but missed. Sonic ran around to the back and quickly made it up what appeared to be platform on the Golem's back, and then hit the glowing part on the very top of the head. Jennifer would try and shoot at it, but it would be a one in a million shot to hit from her angle. After one of the hard swings it did, they didn't react fast enough and got hit, and fell down, but landed softly on their feet.**

"**Whew, at least that was a soft………..landing?" Jennifer asked as she looked down. Both her and Sonic were sinking.**

"**Ah nuts," Sonic said. But, there were some pulleys they could grab onto, and the pull from the sand wasn't as powerful as it was before, so they could sort of hop each step towards one of the pulleys and grab a hold, and the pulley hoisted them back to the top. After a few more hits, the Golem then tried to smash them with it's huge head, gave Jennifer a perfect chance to grab hold of the side of the head, and aim at the glowing part, and shoot it. After a few times of this, the Golem was finished. A little bit later, and the top of the pyramid opened up, and inside was a space shuttle. Soon a male computer voice spoke.**

"**Green light for launch. Primary engine ignition on. Beginning liftoff countdown. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two," at about the last second Sonic and Jennifer made it inside. "One. Shuttle liftoff." And the shuttle lifted off. After a little bit of flying in space, they soon neared by Space Colony ARK by going through a small asteroid field.**

"**So this is the Space-Colony where Robotnick is hiding," Sonic said before they got hit by a asteroid, causing the cargo bay to open, and the letting the shards of the Master Emerald fly out.**

"**What the? Watch where you're piloting!" Jennifer exclaimed.**

"**Is everyone alright? We should be landing soon," Tails said.**

"**Oh no! The hatch door is open!" Knuckles exclaimed.**

"**Don't sweat it Knuckles, all that was back there was the……….Master Emerald shards………uh oh," Sonic said.**

"**Uh oh is right! Land this shuttle and let me out!" Knuckles yelled.**

"**Now get off the control panel. We're going to crash if you keep that up! OH NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT LEVER!" Sonic exclaimed. Jennifer, Sonic, Tails, and Amy screamed as the shuttle sailed out of control. Somehow though, they managed to land.**

"**What's up with that Knucklehead anyway, trying to take over the ship! I thought we were toast for sure! Huh? Where did he go now?" Sonic asked.**

"**I think he bailed out, but I don't know really, I was to busy trying to keep myself alive," Jennifer replied. They then looked around for a bit.**

"**This place looks abandoned," Amy commented. Jennifer then glanced down, and lightly slid her foot across the floor, revealing its true color.**

"**And incredibly dusty," Jennifer added.**

"**Just what is this place, and how long has it been abandoned?" she then asked.**

"**This place was shut down about fifty years ago, because of a terrible accident. The first Bernoulli spherical space-colony, called "ARK". When it was operational, it was the most advanced research center of it's kind. But looking at it now…" Tails trailed off.**

"**It isn't that advanced anymore, huh?" Jennifer asked.**

"**There isn't that much time left before that weapon fires again, we have to find that cannon and destroy it!" Sonic said.**

"**Let me check something real quick," Tails said as he went back to the Cyclone's computer.**

"**Someone designed the cannon to be impenetrable from outside attacks. It has defensive shields which are super-strong, so we have to find a way to destroy it from the inside," Tails replied as he pulled out an Emerald.**

"**Isn't that the Chaos Emerald?" Jennifer asked.**

"**It looks like it, doesn't it? But in fact, it's a fake one I created after studying the real one. It has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than the real one. It's designed to reverse the energy field inside the Chaos Emeralds, and blow up. It looks so real, even a machine can't tell the difference. I'll find the power supply and destroy it. Sonic, Jennifer, you two find the control room, okay?" Tails asked.**

"**I see, we'll try and swap one of the real Emeralds with this one, let's do it!" Sonic said.**

"**Roger that, this'll be a snap," Jennifer replied. Sonic and Jennifer wandered the empty halls the Space Colony Ark, not really knowing what to expect from a place this old. As they wandered about, they soon came across something that made Jennifer stare in absolute shock.**

"**Chaos?!?!!?" she exclaimed. There was a strange water creature, that looked similar to Chaos, but it was being held stable by a small device around the neck, so although it had the head of Chaos, it didn't have the body at all, just a head and a neck that comes out of the floor really.**

"**That isn't Chaos, I can tell you that!" Sonic replied as he quickly mad work of the creature, and it just became a normal puddle. Jennifer got close to it and looked at it, seeing her reflection.**

"**Bio-Weapons……..I thought they were a myth!" Jennifer said.**

"**Bio-Weapons? You mean like, natural things that are enhanced?" Sonic asked.**

"**That's the general idea, but there are some other things that have "Bio" tagged onto it, thing that are not pleasant," Jennifer replied. They fought many robots as they made their way through the Space Colony, while Knuckles was going about collecting the Master Emerald shards. They soon reached a control room.**

"**Tails, we've found a control room," Sonic said into a radio that was given to him.**

"**Roger that, I'll destroy the power supply!" Tails replied. After a few minutes or so, Tails came back on.**

"**Alright Sonic, now put the Emerald……" Tails was cut short by Robotnick.**

"**Ahem, Tails, tell Sonic to come back to the research facility, now!" he said.**

"**Sonic! Amy is….." Tails couldn't finish.**

"**I didn't catch that Tails, what happened to Amy?" Sonic asked.**

"**Robotnick!" Jennifer said as she scowled. Meanwhile, where Knuckles was at, he collected half of the Master Emerald shards.**

"**That's half of them, now for the other half," Knuckles said as he walked around an area that was a little bit under construction. But then, the female bat from before came into view.**

"**Long time no see, treasure hunter. Did you find, **_**my**_** Emeralds?" she asked.**

"**That's a good one, **_**your**_** Emeralds! Trying to talk to you is a big fat waste of time, like you!" Knuckles said.**

"**Hey, I'm not fat at all!" the bat yelled.**

'**You may have a good figure, but you sure have a pig headed personality!' Knuckles thought to himself before they went at it, while Knuckles used his fists, the bat used a lot of kicks. They battled for a good while, until they fought to a high girder, which was above a vat of hot lava that opened and closed every now and then. They were getting pretty tuckered out, not really getting anywhere.**

"**Quit messing around, and give me back the shards!" they both said at the same time.**

"**What are you babbling about? And you call yourself a hunter, attacking a lady, shame on you!" the bat yelled.**

"**What kind of "lady" goes around stealing gems?" Knuckles asked.**

"**Those are mine, so they belong to me!" the yelled as she started running towards Knuckles, but tripped and started to fall towards the lava pit, which was now wide open. Knuckles quickly grabbed her by her arm, which caused her to get a little dizzy by how fast her vision zipped about.**

"**What in the world?" she asked as Knuckles pulled her up, and they looked at each other for a moment before she backed up rather disgusted. **

"**Keep your hands to yourself! Don't touch me!" she spat.**

"**Is that how you say "thanks" to someone who just saved your life?!!?" Knuckles asked.**

"**Saved my life? I don't think I owe you one, you just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you?" the bat asked.**

"**Now I know you're nuts! But this isn't a joke, you can think what ever you want, Bat-girl, I was saving the Master Emerald!" Knuckles replied. She then sighed.**

"**No matter what you say, it sounds crazy," she said.**

'**Look who's calling who crazy!' Knuckles thought to himself, but she then tossed the Emerald shards at his feet.**

"**Hm?""Fine, then just take them, they stink like Echidnas do," she said.**

"**If that's what you thought, then you should have given them to me in the first place!" Knuckles said as he scooped them up, and soon the Master Emerald was whole again.**

"**Finally!" he exclaimed as he placed his hand on the Emerald. He then looked at the bat, and she turned away.**

"**What?" she asked rather bitterly.**

"**Sorry……if I hurt you," Knuckles replied as he picked up the Master Emerald and left. She then looked up.**

"**We should get going," she said before she started to leave, but then looked where Knuckles ran off to, and gave a slight smile. Meanwhile, the door to the research facility opened, and in walked Sonic and Jennifer, and they didn't like the sight they saw. Tails was standing off to the side in his Cyclone, while Robotnick had a gun pointed at Amy's head!.**

"**Let's take care of business first, shall we Sonic? Hand over the Chaos Emerald, slowly, and then we'll talk about your girlfriend. That is, if you really care for her," Robotnick said.**

'**Handing over the fake Emerald……I can kill two birds with one stone!' Sonic realized. The same idea was going through Jennifer and Tails' minds, and Tails gave them a quick nod before he and Jennifer walked over towards where Robotnick pointed, which was at a circular spot.**

"**Put the Emerald down there, and back off!" Robotnick ordered.**

"**You've turned into a big time villain, Doctor!" Sonic said rather smugly as he and Jennifer walked. One they stepped onto the circle, a capsule rose up and trapped them.**

"**You lousy Egg-head, what's the idea of this?" Jennifer asked.**

"**You thought you could try and trick me with that fake Emerald, didn't you?" Robotnick asked.**

"**So…….how did you know it wasn't the real one?" Tails asked.**

"**Tails!" Sonic exclaimed.**

"**Oh no! Not how you word it!" Jennifer said as she covered her face in total pain.**

"**Heh heh heh, because you just told me, Fox-boy!" Robotnick replied, which surprised Tails by a lot.**

'**What have I done?!??!??!' Tails realized in horror.**

"**Now for a little Space-ride you two! Once the capsule clears the colony, BAM!" Robotnick said.**

"**I'm counting on you Tails. And Amy……take care of yourself," Sonic said.**

"**Farewell, Sonic The Hedgehog!" Robotnick said as he pressed a button on a remote control, and the capsule ejected into space.**

"**SONIC!" Amy yelled. As the capsule quickly neared clearing the Space Colony, Sonic began to recall something Tails told him.**

"**It has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than the real one," Tails' voice echoed in his head.**

"**The same wavelength and properties…..but, can I do this?" Sonic asked.**

"**Do what? Wait….Chaos Control?" Jennifer asked. Soon Robotnick saw the capsule explode, and an evil grin came across his face.**

"**Farewell Sonic, my admirable adversary!" Robotnick said.**

"**Sonic…..Jennifer….no……" Amy sobbed. Robotnick then quickly turned and pointed the gun at Tails.**

"**Now we have some unfinished business to take care of. If you give me the real Emerald, I will release you both, you have my promise," he said.**

"……**Sonic…." Tails started.**

"**Huh?" Robotnick asked.**

"**Sonic has asked me, for the first time, to do something for him. I won't let him down! I won't give up!" Tails yelled as he armed his Cyclone.**

"**Fine then, I'll pry the Chaos Emerald from your dead fingers!" Robotnick yelled. It was nearing the final countdown, there wasn't much time left to stop the Eclipse Cannon from firing, and Knuckles was walking in one of the many hallways closest to a path to the cannon.**

"**I feel a strange energy," he said, as the air around him began to feel a bit odd. Soon there was a bright flash in front of him, and once it faded, both Sonic and Jennifer were lying on the floor.**

"**Hey! Sonic, Jennifer!" Knuckles exclaimed as he ran over to them.**

"**Whoa, I wasn't sure if I could pull that one off. Somehow, I managed to use the Chaos Control!" Sonic said as he stood up.**

"**Chaos Control?" Knuckles asked as he helped Jennifer to her feet.**

"**Are you ok?" he then asked.**

"**For the most part, we teleported quite a distance, I don't think our bodies like going that far in such a short amount of time," Jennifer replied.**

"**I'm worried about Tails and Amy, I hate to drop it on your lap Knuckles, but could you help them?" Jennifer asked.**

"**I don't see why not, I got the Master Emerald whole again," Knuckles replied.**

"**Great, at least that's done, but this is out last chance, we have to figure out how to destroy the Eclipse Cannon!" she then said.**

"**I've got it!" Sonic replied.**

"**You do?" Jennifer asked, she then saw him looking at the fake Chaos Emerald in his hand.**

"**Before the cannon fires, I'll slam duck it in there!" Sonic replied as he ran off, and Jennifer quickly followed.**

"**Now that sounds like a **_**real**_** risky stunt!" Knuckles said before he went the other way.**

"**Wow, I never would have thought there would be air out here!" Jennifer said as they entered another outside area, this time really outside unlike before. The area had many bright lights, and all sorts of flashing rails. It was beautiful, they could see the stars, and the Earth far below.**

"**I can hardly believe how blue and white the Earth is!" Jennifer said as they grinded along the rails.**

"**Defiantly don't want to fall off for two reasons. One, there isn't any air out there, and two, you'll burn up in the atmosphere!" Sonic warned.**

"**Glad I made sure these boots were durable, any other pair might not be able to handle all the grinding we have to do," Jennifer commented.**

"**It sure I fun though, isn't it?" Sonic said as they did a loop-de-loop.**

"**I sure am lucky to be able to handle fast speeds like this, or all this kind of spinning, I might get sick otherwise if I wasn't," Jennifer replied. This area was massive, but it was the only way to get to the Eclipse Cannon in time. After a lot of traveling, and avoiding various enemies scattered about the areas where they had to run, they soon reached a tunnel which led to the Eclipse Cannon.**

"**Whew, we're close now!" Sonic said.**

"**We don't have a lot of time left before it fires, we'd better get moving!" Jennifer said.**

"**You're right, we don't have time to dawdle!" Sonic replied. Before they stared to move, Shadow then started to walk along side them.**

"**You never cease to amaze me, blue hedgehog. I thought that the capsule the both of you were in, exploded in space," Shadow said.**

"**Well, what can I say? I die hard," Sonic replied.**

"**You actually saved us you know?" Jennifer asked as Sonic quickly showed off the fake Emerald.**

"**It was a Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? But……there's no way you could have activated the Chaos Control, using an Emerald that's fake!" Shadow said. They then started going into a run.**

"**So, there's more to you then just looking like me. What are you, anyway?" Shadow asked.**

"**What you see is what you get, a guy that loves adventures. I'm Sonic The Hedgehog!" Sonic replied.**

"**And I'm Jennifer, the bounty hunter, who also now loves adventures," Jennifer added.**

"**I see. But you know, I can't let the two of you live. So your adventuring days are coming to an end!" Shadow said as they ran out onto a long platform.**

'**Uh oh, no place for me to use my grapple here, this is going to be real tricky on a narrow path like this,' Jennifer thought.**

"**Before this is over, I'll show you both the true power, of Chaos, **_**Control!**_" Shadow yelled.

"I've seen enough of what the Chaos Emeralds can do to last me a lifetime! So you'll show us nothing!" Jennifer replied.

"You're speed doesn't seem natural at all for a human, what are you really?" Shadow asked.

'Perfect, all this talking should be enough to stall till we get close enough!' Sonic thought.

"Well, I was a normal human once, but with a slight bit of D.N.A work, I managed to have my speed greatly enhanced, but it sure took awhile to take full affect," Jennifer replied.

"So that's why you were able to keep up with me so well once we reached the colony, because you haven't really been able to use that grapple of yours," Sonic said.

"Enough talk, Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled.

"Spear!?!?" Jennifer asked, and a whole bunch of spears made of energy began to come after them.

"AHHH!!" Sonic and Jennifer yelled as they tried to avoid the spears, not really doing to well. They then noticed the path behind them was beginning to fall.

"Reminds me of the time I was in the Death Egg in space," Sonic commented.

"Oh lord, if the spears don't kill us, then the fall will!" Jennifer said.

"That's it!" Sonic said as he tried to bash Shadow, but they quickly started a bashing contest, with no one emerging the victor, and Jennifer stopped, and soon saw the platforms near then were starting to fall.

"Sonic! We gotta keep moving!" she called.

"Just a sec….." Sonic said as he managed to bash Shadow onto a falling platform.

"Hah! Take that!" Sonic said as he and Jennifer started running again.

"This is the Ultimate!" Shadow yelled.

"Oh for the love of!" Sonic started.

"EEEEEEK!" Jennifer screamed as Shadow warped directly in front of them, and they bashed right into him. Jennifer managed to take advantage of this, and held Shadow while Sonic ran ahead.

"Similar or not, I'll finish you this time!" Shadow said as he grabbed Jennifer by the neck and rolled close to the edge, and held her head over it.

"What do you mean by "similar?" Who do I look like?" Jennifer asked as she managed to pry his hand from her neck.

'She's getting stronger! That D.N.A work she mentioned much be doing more then just altering her speed!' Shadow thought. Jennifer then kicked him off, and quickly socked him in the face before she leaped back a few times to increase her distance from the falling platforms. She and Shadow went toe to toe as she backed up to keep herself moving, as she didn't have any real way to save herself from falling. After one last swing, Jennifer grabbed Shadow by the arm and slammed him into the ground.

"It ends here, Robotnick's plan, your posing as Sonic, and my D.N.A alteration," Jennifer said.

"For what purpose did you undergo such an ordeal to become what you are now?" Shadow asked.

"To become a protector, and to make sure what happened in Station Square, never happens again anywhere else," Jennifer replied.

"A protector…….." Shadow trailed off. Back at the research facility, Robotnick was lying on the ground, Tails had fought a hard battle, but he beat Robotnick. But during all that, he unknowingly dropped the Chaos Emerald.

"Sonic, I did it," Tails said rather tired, while Amy was still depressed.

"Awesome job, Tails!" Sonic's voice boomed from the radio, but Robotnick grabbed the Chaos Emerald before he slipped away.

"Sonic!" Tails called.

"He's alive?" Amy asked.

"Take a look outside you two!" Jennifer said. Tails and Amy quickly went over to a window, and saw the cannon beginning to build up energy to fire, but then the energy shot back down the cannon, making it explode! On one of the many hanging antenna like things, were Sonic and Jennifer.

"Well, aside from the few setbacks on this adventure, I'd say this is a job well done!" Sonic said as he gave Jennifer a thumbs up.

"You're right. Now the Space Colony ARK isn't a threat to the planet anymore," Jennifer said with a very gentle smile.

"You know, the stars look beautiful in your eyes," Sonic commented.

"Save that for Amy, Sonic," Jennifer said with a slight giggle, but she still liked the compliment. Elsewhere, in the area where Robotnick was at, he was quite upset as an alarm was blaring.

"Why won't the cannon fire? I have all Seven Chaos Emeralds!" Robotnick yelled. Soon a red light came on.

"What!? What's happening here?!" he demanded. Soon a screen came on.

"It's……it' my grandfather! Gerald Robotnick!" Robotnick exclaimed. Soon Sonic, Knuckles, and Jennifer entered the research facility again, but this time the whole place shook.

"WHOA! What's with the Colony?" Knuckles asked as he nearly fell over.

"Is that Egg-head stupid enough to try and use a broken cannon? He'll kill us all if he does that!" Jennifer exclaimed.

"Hold on, someone's coming!" Sonic said. Then the female-bat came down.

"You….you haven't given up yet?" Knuckles asked.

"It's all over for us," she said.

"Huh? What are you talking…….wait….aren't you Rouge The Bat? The Top Secrete Agent?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, and I just received a message from my boss…The Space Colony ARK, is currently heading towards Earth at an incredible velocity. It will probably…..impact Earth," Rouge replied. Soon an image of Gerald Robotnick appeared on a nearby screen.

"That's Robotnick! But…..he's…….he's older!" Jennifer said. He was dressed in a white lab coat, normally thin, bald, and he a long white mustache. He was sitting, bound to a chair by chains, and Jennifer noticed something about the room around him.

"Hey, this may seem random, but isn't that the same room that you were locked in Sonic? The one with all of those math equations, times and dates?" Jennifer asked. Similar to Robotnick's speech about going to rule the world, the image was projected onto every Tv screen on the planet.

"This is a death sentence for every human being on Earth. If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact the Earth in twenty-seven minutes, twenty-three seconds. All of you will be destroyed, along with you beloved planet Earth," Gerald said as the ARK began to enter the atmosphere, and started to get encased in a ball of fire. The video was still playing in the research facility.

"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge, once all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me…..will feel my loss, and despair!" Gerald continued.

"Is there anything else you want to say?" a G.U.N soldier asked.

"No," Gerald replied.

"Ready?" another G.U.N soldier asked.

"What's going on here? Who is that?" Amy asked.

"I don't know, but he's flipped completely!" Jennifer replied.

"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge…" Gerald said.

"Guys, the vibration's getting worse!" Knuckles said.

"Professor Gerald Robotnick! One of the greatest scientific minds in the world, and my grandfather!" Robotnick replied.

"Your grandfather!?!??!!??!" Jennifer asked.

"I can see the resemblance both physical, and mental. But you seem more sane than him, you lunatic!" she added as she pointed her rifle at him.

"I knew you were behind all of this! Stop it right now, or else…." Robotnick cut Knuckles short.

"I'd have done this long if I had the chance!" Robotnick replied.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked, and Jennifer slightly lowered her rifle.

"You're pretty persistent for a hedgehog, still alive I see," Robotnick commented.

"Heh, just letting Knuckles pilot the shuttle was more dangerous then you could ever be!" Sonic replied.

"Hey!" Knuckles spat, a bit annoyed by Sonic's last remark. Robotnick then handed Rouge a computer dick.

"What's this?" she asked.

"My grandfather's diary." Without needing another word to be said, Rouge placed the computer disk into a slot on the terminal in the wall, and text started scrolling up, and she began to read it out loud for everyone.

"I don't quite know what happened, or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the Ultimate Life Form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind….but then the military guards landed on the Colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project that I had been working on. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter Maria, I hope you are all safe. The colony was completely shut down, probably to prevent the prototype from falling into the wrong hands. The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an 'accident'. I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me! And I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research. I lost everything! I had nothing more to live for! I went insane!! All I could think about, was to avenge her! Somehow, someway, I got scared as I no longer was able to control my thoughts. All I could think about, was that I wanted it all to end. Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project; Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure…I will leave everything, to him. If you wish, release and awaken it if you wish to fill the world with destruction," Rouge finished. She then turned to Robotnick. "Oh, so that's why you released Shadow from the base!" Jennifer then covered her mouth in shock as many of the words rang through her head, which were pieces falling into place.

"My granddaughter Maria….she meant everything to me!…….Shadow…….leave everything to him." But then a word that Shadow said to her rang a few times in her head as she looked at her reflection in the window.

"Similar…….Similar…Similar……" the words kept on repeating.

"Maria……" Jennifer said as she touched her face, and she said it so quietly, no one heard her.

"The core of the Eclipse Cannon is now highly reactive and explosive. This is because of the energy from the Chaos Emeralds is overpowering it. If the colony collides with Earth, it will shatter into pieces like my grandfather predicted!" Robotnick replied. "That mad scientist!" he then said affectionately.

"No! We have to stop it!" Jennifer yelled.

"The Space Colony ARK's position may have shifted due to the amount of energy given off by the Emeralds. We have to stop the energy!" Robotnick replied.

"But how?" Tails asked. Jennifer then gasped.

"The Master Emerald! Knuckles, you told me you fixed it before!" Jennifer said.

"Yeah I did!" Knuckles replied as he pulled it out. "If I use this, I can stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

"It's the only chance we have, and we have to make it count, or else we're all going to die!"" Jennifer said.

'This is far worse then Station Square, the whole planet will be shattered into pieces if we fail, I can't let that happen! I won't let it!' she thought.

"The reaction of the Chaos Emeralds is moving toward the Cannon's core! It may be too late!" Tails said.

"There still may be time left. If we pull together, we might be able to get to the shortcut that leads to the core!" Robotnick said.

"No worries, just leave it to me! I'm the world's fastest Hedgehog!" Sonic said.

"We have no time to lose, let's give it all we've got!" Jennifer said. Soon everyone was doing everything they can to get to the core, as they had to take care of challenges that was suited for a certain member of the group. Thanks to Jennifer's training to become a hunter, and her D.N.A work, she was able to help out everyone with all of her skills. But sadly, Amy was left behind yet again, as she paced around the research facility.

"I'm getting tired of being left behind, it's really, _really_ getting on my nerves!" she complained. She then noticed Shadow looking out one of the windows.

"Shadow? Shouldn't he be helping? For once my being left behind is starting to pay off!" Amy said as she went over to him.

"Shadow, you shouldn't be just standing there, you have to help the others!" she said.

"It's all going according to plan. There's no reason for me to help them. And besides, there's no way to save anyone," Shadow replied.

"There has to be a way! I know that people often fight over the most trivial things, and a lot of people maybe selfish, like the professor said….but there's still a lot of good people in the world as well! Because they try their best and never give up on their wishes. They always have a reason to be happy, that's why you should help the others out! Saving them is a good thing! Shadow, I beg you, please do it for them! Give them a chance!" Amy pleaded. A flashback then started to happen in Shadow's mind. He was in a capsule similar to the one that Sonic and Jennifer were in when Robotnick tried to kill them. And standing by a terminal, dying from bullet wounds, was Maria. She did look similar to Jennifer, only younger, and her hair was blonde. She wore a white and blue dress.

"Shadow……please do it for me……….for a better future," Maria said weakly.

"MARIA!" Shadow yelled as he pressed his hands up against the wall of the capsule, he was helpless to try and save her.

"For all the people who live on that planet…..give them a chance to be happy. Let them live for their dreams. Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason that you were brought into this world," Maria continued. She soon pressed a button which made Shadow's capsule fall into space towards Earth.

"Sayonara…….Shadow, The Hedgehog," Maria said before he life faded.

'That's what I've promised her……I must keep that promise…..that's what Maria wished for,' Shadow thought in his head as a slight tear rolled down his face.

"Shadow?" Amy asked.

"I have to go now, I have to keep my promise to Maria, and you!" Shadow replied as he ran off. Soon, Sonic, Knuckles and Jennifer reached the core, and they saw a most interesting sight. The area ahead of them looks like the shrine of the Master Emerald when the shrine wasn't damaged, complete with all seven pillars with the Chaos Emeralds on top. And above the shrine, was a really odd device, that was beating like a heart, as it made the heartbeat sound at it pulsated. The whole room was filled with flowing water, and the path they was on was split in the middle, where more water rushed through, and the path made a huge circle shape in the center of the room, with a huge open spot making a pool of water. Although the water wasn't that deep, it had a powerful current.

"What the!?? It looks exactly like the shrine of the Master Emerald!" Knuckles said.

"Just like the images Tikal showed us during the Chaos affair!" Jennifer commented.

"You're right! They probably designed the core after the shrine so it could harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic agreed.

"That's the only reason why it would look exactly like it did in the past, who knows how hard it was to replicate it!" Jennifer said as they started running towards the shrine. But then Gerald's message started playing again, making them stop in their tracks.

"All of you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me, shall feel my loss, and despair!"

"What's going on now?" Jennifer asked.

"Look out, something's coming!" Sonic warned. Soon a whole bunch of images of Gerald began to fly about the room, all different colors.

"All of you ungrateful humans who took everything away from me, shall feel my loss and despair!" Gerald said again. Soon there was a huge flash of light, and the whole place shook, and in front of them now, was a creature, known as the Biolizard, and it let out a loud, horrifying screech as it rested in the center of the circular area.

"Could this be the Prototype of the Ultimate Life Form that was supposed to be encapsulated?" Knuckles asked.

"It has to be! But I can hardly believe it's still alive even after all these years!" Jennifer said. The Biolizard looked somewhat incomplete, or not fully grown. It was huge, sure, but it was red, and had various device stuck here and there. Like on the eyes, and most notably, the huge life support system on it's back, which had two long cords running into the sides of it's mouth. And it's mouth didn't seem to lead anywhere. Soon they were surprised when Shadow started to walk by them.

"Leave this one to me," Shadow said.

"Shadow! You came!" Jennifer said with joy.

"GAH! What are you doing?" Sonic asked as Shadow was starting to get really close to the Biolizard.

"I'll take care of this, while you run to get the Chaos Emeralds!" Shadow replied. Sonic ad Knuckles quickly ran past, while Jennifer stayed.

"Shadow……..I…." Jennifer tried to say

"So you figured out that you look similar to Maria," Shadow said.

"Yes, and I wish I could say I was her long lost daughter, but I'm not related to her family in any way," Jennifer replied. "But even so, that doesn't mean I won't help you like she would if she was still alive. Shadow, let's finish this, together," she added. Shadow gave a slight nod before turning back to the Biolizard. They entered the circular area as the Biolizard stretched it's head up, and then stared to spin itself with its head pointed right at them, mouth wide open, it was going to try and eat them. But they were able to stay ahead of it, but they didn't want to move to fast, as they didn't want t to get the idea to try and smack them with it's tail. After a little bit, it stopped, and a glow began to emanate from one of the cords on the sides of it's head. Shadow knew what to do, as he quickly grinded up the cords and bashed the glowing red core on the top of the life support system, and the Biolizard let out a roar as many small explosions appeared on the core for a little bit. It then went after them again, but this time when it stopped, it began to spit out huge dark energy blasts at them at different heights, high and low. They jumped the low ones, and slid under the high ones, and soon, one of the cords began to glow again. Shadow did what he did before, and got another hit. They did the same pattern again, but this time, because Shadow went over to the other side of the Biolizard when he landed his last attack, it went after Jennifer. She was able to stay one step ahead of it like before, and when the cord started to glow, she jumped onto it, used her grapple, as she was now at the right angle to use it, and pulled herself to the top. Once there, she jabbed the barrel of her rifle into the glowing part of the life support system and pulled the trigger, which caused the same kind of damage from when Shadow would hit, but this sent her flying off and into the water, but she managed to grab hold off the ledge before she got pulled away by the current, and Shadow quickly pulled her up. This time, after the Biolizard stopped chasing them and firing the dark energy, it then caused many small pinkish-red spheres to appear. And one by one, one would start to flash, and then shoot towards either Shadow or Jennifer. Shadow, thinking quickly, did he homing attack at each one, getting higher and higher until he was able to attack the life support system. After doing that again, instead of chasing them again, it summoned up the spheres again, but this time gravity went a bit crazy, as both Shadow and Jennifer were propelled into the air, and the spheres were all level, and were going around in an interesting circle pattern, one group was going one way, another going the other way, like many rings close together, getting smaller and smaller as they went towards the life support system. Jennifer was now in a perfect spot, as once she managed to stop herself from spinning like mad, she fired at the glowing part, making it explode, and the Biolizard roared as it fell limp onto the ground, and Shadow caught Jennifer and landed with her softly.

"Get out, you ugly prototype!" Shadow said at the Biolizard. Sonic and Knuckles soon reached the Shrine, and saw a glowing red opening for where to place the Master Emerald. Knuckles pulled out the Master Emerald and gave a confident smile before he placed it where it needed to go.

"The servers are, the seven Chaos. Chaos it power, power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos. Only you can do this, stop the Chaos Emeralds!" Knuckles said. The Master Emerald then began to spin rapidly as it began to emit a green aura. Soon the Chaso Emeralds began to glow even brighter, and a lot of energy shot from them and dashed about the room, and the Biolizard roared even louder, getting their attention. It roared a second time as the energies swirled around it, and it soon vanished in a bright light.

"Is it gone?" Knuckles asked. Shadow then landed in the shrine with Jennifer still in his arms.

"Is that what…….Chaos Control really is?" Shadow asked as he set her down.

"I think we did it," Jennifer said. And then the place shook really violently , making Shadow bend down and place one hand on the ground, while Jennifer nearly stumbled out of the shrine, but she walked into one of the pillars and kept her balance there.

"Since we stopped the Chaos Emeralds, why is the Space Colony still on a crash courssssseeeee tooooo Earrrrrtttthhh?!?!?!?!" Knuckles asked as he tried to keep balance as the shaking got really intense, but soon stopped and made him fall over by the sudden stop. Robotnick then began to speak on one of the speakers.

"The prototype is still alive! He's controlling the Space Colony as it is falling to Earth! He has become one with the Space Colony, and is determined to keep it on its collision course!" he replied.

"No! We've come to far to fail now!" Jennifer said.

"It's not over yet Jennifer, we still have one last chance!" Sonic replied.

"We do?" Knuckles asked. But then it dawned on him as he glanced around with his eyes. Sonic then looked to Shadow, who gave him a quick nod. They then stood in the center of the shrine and each held up one hand, and the seven Chaos Emeralds left their pedestals and started to circle around them. They then quickly absorbed their power, and turned into their super forms, Sonic in his golden form, while Shadow still kept his red patches, he turned into a white color.

"Both of you hold the hope of everyone on Earth, don't let them down!" Jennifer said.

"I made a promise to Maria, and I intend to keep that promise," Shadow said.

"Be careful out there, the both of you," Jennifer said. They didn't say another word as they flew off, and they were getting close to getting outside of the Colony.

"If there was anyplace I would merge with the Colony to try and steer it, I would use the remains of the Eclipse Cannon, that's probably where you'll find the prototype," Jennifer said over the radio.

"That's what I would think," Robotnick agreed. And sure enough, there it was, the Biolizard had merged itself with what was left of the Eclipse Cannon.

"Hm, see that red swollen spot? That's probably it's weak point," Shadow said.

"It's worth a shot, I'll go first," Sonic said as he sailed toward the Biolizard, avoiding it's attacks to try and stop him. When he landed the hit, he got sent flying away, but he did damage.

"I'll take over, you go get more rings to stay Super Sonic," Shadow said. They switched off after each hit, and the Colony was getting closer and closer to Earth.

"You have to stop him, or else it's all over!" Jennifer said. After a few more hits, the Biolizard was destroyed. But the ARK was still falling towards Earth, and it was getting covered in a fireball.

"No way that's getting through!" Sonic said.

"Shadow I beg of you……" Maria's voice rang through Shadow's mind.

'Maria?' Shadow asked in his head.

"Give them a chance….to be happy!" Maria seemed to have replied.

"Now Shadow!" Sonic said. They quickly flew towards the Space Colony and yelled "Chaos Control!" as they rammed into it, engulfing it in a bright light. Soon Shadow, having weakened his Super form, began falling towards Earth with an odd light beneath him.

"Maria…..this is what you wanted right? This is my promise I made to you……." Shadow said before he vanished into the light. Soon the Space Colony ARK reappeared in space, away from Earth, motionless as it was before. A little bit later inside, Sonic came back into the research facility.

"Sonic, where's Shadow?" Jennifer asked. Sonic was silent as he walked towards her, and gave her one of the rings that Shadow wore around his wrist.

"Sh….Shadow," she said sadly as she held the ring close to her chest.

"Do you really think the professor…..created him to destroy all life on Earth?" she then asked.

"He was what he was, a brave and heroic hedgehog, who gave his life to save his planet. Shadow The Hedgehog," Sonic replied.

"I believe you're right," Jennifer said.

"As a child, I looked up to my grandfather because of all the great things he accomplished in his life. He was my hero, and I wanted to be a great scientist like him. But….did he really mean to destroy us?" Robotnick asked.

"I don't know, but I do know one thing. We all did it together!" Tails replied.

"You're right!" Robotnick said.

"So what's next for you Rouge? Off to find more of those jewels you love so much?" Knuckles asked.

"Nah, I think I'm going to quit this line of work. Too much work, for too little pay. Anyway….I've got something better than jewels that I'm thinking about right now……It'll all work out, you'll see," Rouge replied.

"If you say so," Knuckles said.

"Hey Sonic, what's the matter?" Amy asked. Sonic was looking out the window towards Earth.

"Oh, it's nothing. Come on, let's go home to the planet that's as cool and blue as me!" Sonic replied. Everyone soon left the room, but Sonic paused, as he gave a slight wave while looking back.

"Sayonara, Shadow The Hedgehog," he said as he left. A few hours later, and Jennifer was looking out over the balcony of her apartment in a beautiful dress, the gentle breeze blowing her hair as she looked up at the stars.

"All I can hope for is….that he's with Maria now, the one he loved," she said. She then looked at his ring and some tears filled her eyes.

"Farewell Shadow, you won't be forgotten, I will never forget you, even though we only knew each other for a short time, I'll never forget you, because you'll always be in my heart." Meanwhile, a certain ship was heading towards one of the many planet Earths, the one Earth, that holds many answers to many questions.

End Chapter 16


	17. The Wrath of Onslaught

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 17

The Wrath of Onslaught

On the Planet Earth, the same Planet Earth that once had the Earth Kingdom, had a battle going on in one of the cities, the city called New York. A hero who was dressed in red and blue, with black webs covering the red, and a black spider at the center of the chest area, and a big red spider on the back, he white spots where the eyes were, this was the man who had accepted the soul of the spider, his name was Spider-Man.

"Alright you overgrown lobsters, if you think you can attack my neighborhood and get away with it, you're nuts!" Spider-Man said.

"We attack where we want, and whom we want, we don't give a darn if you like it or not!" A Space Pirate with a sword arm said as he swung at Spider-Man, who just dodged with ease with each swing. Spider-Man quickly dodged shots coming from a flying Space Pirate, who soon got bashed in the face by a spinning shield, that had red and white circles on it, with a blue center, with a big white star in the middle. It then went back to a man dressed in an outfit that had the color scheme of the American flag, although it was mostly blue, and two stars. One on his chest, and on his back, and there was a capital A on his mask.

"Thor, take out those gun-ships!" Captain America ordered. Thor, the Son of Odin, quickly flew towards the ships in the air, and took them out without much effort. There was a great many heroes fighting. Spider-Man fought with great skill, and cleaver planning as he took on most of the Space Pirates, using his web shooters, he managed to clog some of the Space Pirates weapons before they fired, which resulted in them exploding.

"Everyone stop!" a voice yelled. It was a Space Pirate, who had a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen, firmly in his clutches, ready to blow her head off.

"Mary Jane!" Spider-Man said.

"Blast, everyone, stand down!" Captain America ordered.

"That's right, guys like you always fold in a hostage situation," the Space Pirate gloated, not noticing the rather cool looking ship coming up from behind him. It then sailed over him and shot at all of the Space Pirates that were around the heroes, and then plowed into the ones that weren't near anyone before it went back up high into the sky.

"Why that little..." the Space Pirate yelled as he shoved Mary Jane to the side and pulled out a huge plasma launcher.

"Come back here and fight like a man!" he yelled. The heroes were most shocked, they didn't know what to do, but Spider-Man glanced up, and saw a slight sparkle in the sky. Before the ship went to attack the Space Pirates, Mega Man programmed it to attack before he jumped out of it and into a free fall. He was now directly above the lone Space Pirate, and Mega Man aimed his buster at him.

"I'm more of a man than you are," Mega Man said as he started charging his buster up. Once energy started to spark from his buster and swirl up his arm like an electric current, he fired a huge blast at the Space Pirate, and the shot drilled into him, vaporizing him as it sent out a huge gust of wind.

"Whoa, what the heck was that?" The Thing asked.

"I don't know, but it was someone on our side," Mr. Fantastic replied. The huge energy shot slowed Mega Man's fall by a lot, making him land softly.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine, and thank you for rescuing me," Mary Jane replied.

"Who was flying the ship?" Spider-Man asked.

"I was flying it, but I set it on autopilot once I saw what was happening. The name's Mega Man by the way," Mega Man said.

"Thanks for the save Mega Man, but who were those guys, do you know them?" Captain America asked.

"A bit too well, I've been fighting these guys for awhile now," Mega Man replied. He then fully noticed Spider-Man.

'Could he be one of the ones I'm supposed to find? The one who accepted the soul of the Spider?' Mega Man asked in his head.

"So you're from space I take it?" Mr. Fantastic asked.

"Uhhh….sort of," Mega Man replied.

"What do you mean, "Sort of"?" The Human Torch asked.

"I'm not exactly from space, space if that's what you meant. True, I do come from space, but I came from a distant Earth," Mega Man replied.

"A distant Earth? You mean there are more than one Earths?" Marry Jane asked.

"Shocking, isn't it? I sure was surprised when found out the Earth I was on wasn't the only Earth out there. Anyway, I've come a good long way to find two men, and I think that guy can help me," Mega Man replied as he pointed at Spider-Man.

"You want my help?" Spider-Man asked.

"It's not a matter of want, I _need_ your help," Mega Man replied.

"No buts or ifs about it?" Spider-Man asked.

"Pretty much. You're not afraid are you?" Mega Man asked.

"Pffff, me afraid? No, I just have something I need to take care of first, meet me around the Bugle Building," Spider-Man replied as he swung off on one of his web strands. Mega Man did his best to follow Spider-Man, and he followed him all the way to the Daily Bugle.

"A newspaper place huh? A good landmark as any I guess," Mega Man said once he was on top of a roof. He waited for a bit until Spider-Man arrived.

"Sorry for the wait, but I just needed to drop off some photos," Spider-Man said.

"Now that's a handy gimmick, you work for a newspaper outfit, by giving them photos of your fights and such?" Mega Man asked.

"That about sums it up, I can't wait to see what kind of headlines we'll get from the photos of you showing up to help save the day," Spider-Man replied.

"I'm sure it will be interesting," Mega Man commented.

"So, what exactly brings you all the way to my part of the galaxy? I assume you came a pretty good long way," Spider-Man said.

"The trip wasn't short and uneventful, that's for sure. But what brings me here, is the Destiny of Destruction," Mega Man said.

"The Destiny of Destruction?" Spider-Man asked.

"The Destiny of Destruction is an event in which almost all life ends and it's a safe bet, that an evil rule will rise up from it," Mega Man replied.

"I assume you're here to try and stop it, but what can we do? Or me for that matter?" Spider-Man asked.

"We can't stop it directly, but we can set into motion events that can stop it," Mega Man replied.

"Wait, you're from the future?" Spider-Man asked.

"No, I'm from this time line, just like you. I was told by an all seeing race that to start the preventive measures to stop the Destiny of Destruction, I had to find two men. One has accepted the soul of the Bat, and the other, the soul of the Spider," Mega Man replied.

"Accepted the soul of the Spider?" Spider-Man asked most shocked as he looked at himself.

"I guess I really am the one you're looking for," he commented.

"And I think I know who has the soul of the Bat. He's in Gotham city," he added.

"Well, this sure is a great start. By the way, who are all the heroes around here?" Mega Man asked.

"Hmmm, there's quite a few, I'll give you the major groups for now. There's the Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Justice League, and the X-Men. And do note, there are a lot of lone guys, like me for example, I'm not really apart of a group, but I am a pretty good team player when it comes down to it," Spider-Man replied.

"Well, it most certainly seems like I'm on the right track. By the way, what's your name? I assume it has Spider in it," Mega Man said.

"I'm the Amazing Spider-Man!" Spider-Man said.

"I see. Well Spider-Man, here's to a good partnership," Mega Man said as he held out his hand.

"And perhaps a pretty good friendship," Spider-Man added as he shook Mega Man's hand.

"So, how do we get to this Gotham?" Mega Man asked.

"We'll take the next plane that leaves for it, although I don't know the flight schedule at the moment," Spider-Man replied.

"Say wait a minute, can't we just use your ship?" he then asked.

"I don't want to waste my fuel, because I don't think the fuel I need is on this planet," Mega Man replied.

"Oh, good point," Spider-Man said.

"And on a side note, and I assume you already know this, but I don't know my way around this planet, so I'll need you to guide me," Mega Man said.

"I think can fathom a guess why, your planet is probably setup a lot different than this one probably, different lands masses, different means of transportation, the works," Spider-Man said.

"But anyway, yeah, just follow me and we'll get to Gotham in no time!" he added, before a big shock wave nearly blew both him and Mega Man off of the roof.

"Me and my big mouth!" Spider-Man moaned.

"I take it this happens a lot?" Mega Man asked.

"I must admit, we do get attacks a lot, but those Space Pirates were new. But I have to say this is ridiculous! It usually takes about a day for another attack to happen from anyone in general!" Spider-Man replied.

"I'm not sure if it's the Space Pirates or not, doesn't seem like their style to attack once it's been repelled, I don't think so anyway," Mega Man said.

"Anyway, I don't think the Space Pirates even have enough power to cause a shock wave..." Mega Man trailed off when he remembered what happened on Samus' home planet. But then it struck him while he was looking where the shock wave came from.

"At least they don't have an attack that just causes a shock wave, because I did encounter one shock wave from an attack they did, but it was after I saw a huge explosion, there isn't a single mushroom cloud where this shock wave came from," Mega Man finished.

"You sure do know a lot about them," Spider-Man said.

"They've been around for far too long, that's all I'm going to say about them, far, _far_ too long," Mega Man said.

"But anyway, we should check out what caused that disturbance," he added as he started to leave.

"Although it's kind of obvious, I'm hoping whatever it was, wasn't someone insanely powerful, those guys are the worst," Spider-Man as he followed.

"Well, they can't be any worse then anyone I've faced so far," Mega Man as they started leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Soon the area got dark, and a huge shape appeared above the city.

"What's that? A spaceship?" Mega Man asked.

"I don't know, it looks, kind of like a……giant….floating platform," Spider-Man replied.

"A flying saucer?" Mega Man asked. Soon a deep, ominous voice spoke.

"Know my name and fear it, I am Onslaught!" Onslaught bellowed.

"Well, I don't fear ya, buddy, so come on out and fight!" Mega Man yelled.

"Patience, you may get you chance, if you can prove yourselves worthy to battle me," Onslaught replied.

"Prove ourselves worthy to battle you? What are you getting at?" Spider-Man asked.

"What I'm getting at, mortal, is that I don't want to waste my time with someone weak, I want to fight the very best," Onslaught replied. Spider-Man and Mega Man looked at each other.

"I know you said we can't stop the Destiny of Destruction directly, but this guy is giving off the "Destroyer of Worlds" vibe," Spider-Man said.

"I hear ya, but mind you, we have a long road ahead of us, so guys like him are bound to show up along the way," Mega Man said.

"Mind you my dear, you'll need someone else with you, if you want to compete in this tournament," Onslaught said. Spider-Man and Mega Man stared blankly for a moment.

"Dear?" Spider-Man asked.

"I think he's talking to someone else," Mega Man replied.

"I see, so you're the most eager of the bunch, now then, go out and fight those who want to challenge my might!" Onslaught said.

"Something tells me if we don't beat this guy, we fail our mission," Mega Man said.

"Well I'm certainly not going to stand around and let someone destroy the world, let's do this!" Spider-Man said.

"You know, a thought just occurred to me," Spider-Man said after they were on the go for a few minutes.

"What?" Mega Man asked.

"This might not bode well for your reputation here."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I know you haven't been here for very long, or known me for very long either, but the Daily Bugle doesn't like me very much, or rather, the boss of the Daily Bugle doesn't like me very much."

"You mean despite who you save, or how many times you stop a madman, he doesn't see that you're doing good?"

"That about sums it up, sadly, he'll probably link your coming here with this Onslaught."

"I see. Well you can trust me, I don't know who this Onslaught is, this is the first I've heard of him. I don't even know what he looks like, but I think it's a safe bet that he's huge."

"I wouldn't doubt it, it will probably take two people to take him down because he's so strong, that's probably why he wants teams, he at least wants the fight to be fair."

"By the way, what kind of abilities do you have?"

"I have Spider-sense, which warns me of danger, and I can track certain things with it. I can stick to walls, and my strength is doubled that of a normal human."

"That interesting."

"Oh, and I also made web shooters, which is how I make webs."

"You know how to make webs? That's pretty cool."

"Well, it helps that I'm also pretty darn good student in my classes."

"So how old are you?"

"About twenty six. And you? You look about your mid to late teens."

"I don't really know how old I am really, mostly because of the fact I can't remember a whole lot of my past since my soul entered this robot body."

"You're a robot?"

"Sort of."

"Well, out of all the people I've met, you have got to be the most interesting one yet." Before another word could be spoken, two people landed in front of them. One was dressed in yellow and blue, and had a mask the didn't cover the mouth and chin, had white slit eyes, and tall pointed things on the sides. The other guy, was dressed in a brown coat, and wore mostly black clothes, had brown hair, and a long silver staff. One thing about him that really got Mega Man's attention, was his eyes, they were black, with red pupils.

"Whoa, hey Logan, I guess you're here for the Tournament huh?" Spider-Man asked.

"Listen bub, there's more to Onslaught then meets the eye," Wolverine replied.

"How so?" Mega Man asked.

"He's our Professor," Gambit replied.

"What!?! You mean Professor Charles Xavier turned evil? But that didn't sound like him at all! Or speak like him!" Spider-Man said.

"I take it you've guys met in the past," Mega Man commented.

"We've worked together before, and right now, I'm here to save Charles!" Wolverine replied.

"Well, I can clearly see that you care for him as a friend, and I respect that, but right now we have to stop him. So long as you've brought the situation fully into the light, we'll do what we can to save him," Mega Man said.

"You think you even stand a chance of succeeding?" Wolverine asked.

"I saved a guy from his own darkness once, I can do it again!" Mega Man replied.

"Well, we all seem to want to save ol Mister X, well, at least the four of us anyway, though I'm not sure about all the others we have to face. But I'll say this, whoever wins this fight, will have to really give the next fights their all!" Spider-Man said.

"Well then, let's see what your new partner can do!" Gambit said.

"Bring it!" Mega Man said. Wolverine lunged at Spider-Man, while Mega Man ran towards Gambit. Gambit pulled out some cards and they soon glowed a pinkish-red, and tossed them at Mega Man, who just simply ducked and kept on moving. Gambit then swung his staff at Mega Man, who blocked it with his forearm. Gambit swung a few more times at him, but he simply ducked, weaved, and blocked them. Gambit swung the staff with great skill and speed, unlike anyone Mega Man has ever faced before, he is finally facing his true challenges, and many more are to come. Mega Man threw some punches and kicks at Gambit, but he either blocked with his staff, or just simply weaved past them.

"Well my friend, it seems you got some brushing up to do," Gambit said, before Mega Man got him right smack in the face with a stomp kick.

"Keep you mind on the battle, nowhere else," Mega Man said. Spider-Man and Wolverine were having a heck of a time, Spider-Man was able to keep ahead of Wolverine's claws, which were three on each hand, but he wasn't able to dodge his swift kicks, which he rarely did. After one kick, it slightly sent him into the air for a bit, while sending him backwards before he landed.

"Wow, you've gotten better since we last met," Spider-Man said. Wolverine then lunged at him again, ready to impale, but Spider-Man grabbed him by the wrists, and flipped him over backwards, but Wolverine landed softly.

"Either that, or you're getting cocky," Wolverine said.

"WWWWWHHHAAAAAAOOOO!" Gambit yelled before a loud bang. Wolverine and Spider-Man glanced over, to see that Mega Man had hold of Gambit's staff, and Gambit was lying on his back, still holding it. They then noted the large cracks underneath Gambit's body.

"Well, I gotta say……you're certainly a _lot_ stronger than you look," Gambit said weakly.

"That's a mistake a lot of people make. But here's something that's also important to know, it's not how hard you can hit, it's how many hits you can take, and keep moving forward," Mega Man said.

"Now that's an interesting proverb," Gambit said before he tried to sweep kick Mega Man, but he quickly leaped over him.

"Well, I've seen and heard a lot of things, and I have to say, I've never met anyone like you, or your friend, or Spider-Man for that matter," Mega Man said.

"You're a real pro with the staff, I'm impressed," he added.

"Well, if ya like my staff moves, why don't I show one of my favorites? The Royal Deck!" Gambit yelled as he tossed an insane number of cards at Mega Man, and they penetrated him like knives, and after Gambit was done, they all exploded.

"Well, that's that," Gambit said as he put his staff in a relaxed position, but he stared once the smoke cleared.

"Yeow! That was some move! OW OW OW!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"Well, now that you're done, why don't I show you one of mine?" Mega Man asked as he quickly fired a shot at Gambit, and took him by surprise, knocking him through the air, and knocking him out when he landed.

"Piece of cake!"

"Well, what do you say we finish this, Wolverine?" Spider-Man asked.

"RAAAHHH!" Wolverine yelled as he quickly zipped forward and clipped Spider-Man with the tips of his claws as Spider-Man leaped back.

"I'll take that as a yes," Spider-Man said.

"Maximum, SPIDER!" he then yelled as he quickly shot towards Wolverine with a kick, and somehow went through him, and then hit him from another angle, and e did this a few more times, but even when he finished, Wolverine still wasn't done.

"You want more huh? Well how about this?" Spider-Man asked as he quickly leaped into the air, got Wolverine with a web strand, and quickly did a forward somersault, which spun Wolverine around pretty good, before Spider-Man slammed him into the ground.

"I believe that's a match," Mega Man said. Awhile later, and Wolverine woke up to find that Spider-Man and Mega Man were still around.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked.

"Waiting for when it's time to start again, it seems that some of the battles are taking a bit," Mega Man replied.

"And besides, I need time to recover from the Royal Deck move Gambit did to me," he added.

"I see," Wolverine said.

"Think you could train me?" Mega Man asked.

"Train you?" Wolverine asked.

"I could barely hit Gambit before, I need to improve, and I don't expect you to teach me those super moves of yours, I just need you to help me with my C.Q.C," Mega Man replied.

"Hm, I guess when you can just barely beat dah pros, you know who to ask to train ya, we'll help, it will also increase your chances of beating Onslaught probably. And also note, you should try and make your own style from our moves," Gambit said. After training for a bit with Gambit, Wolverine and Spider-Man, Mega Man did manage to learn his own basic fighting style, now he just needed someone to help him learn a couple of special moves or combos. Either way, Mega Man felt like he was ready for another match. It was now nighttime, and they soon entered an area which overlooked a beautiful fountain.

"Well, they sure don't have things like that back at home, I've never seen water displayed like that before," Mega Man commented.

"It may not be a really famous landmark, but it's a sight to behold none the less," Spider-Man said.

"So you're our next opponents," a familiar voice said.

"Hey Cap, long time no see, and War Machine!" Spider-Man said once he turned around. War machine was in heavy-duty armor, that covered his whole body, it was two shades of gray, mostly dark, with a bit of light.

"Whoa! War Machine is massive! He looks more advanced and menacing then any of the robots I've faced!" Mega Man said.

"Robot? PFFFFFFF! Sorry, but I'm not a robot, this is body armor," War Machine said.

"Well, you sure do have some powerful looking gear, this fight ought to be fun!" Mega Man said.

"Well Cap, looks like it's time to see who is going to take on Onslaught," Spider-Man said.

"By the way Mega Man, do you know who Onslaught is?" Captain America asked.

"Before I got here, I didn't even know Onslaught existed, and yes I do know who he is, thanks to Wolverine and Gambit telling us," Mega Man replied.

"So you've fought two of the X-Men, well then, you might be worth the challenge after all!" War Machine said.

"Ready when you are my friend!" Mega Man said. Spider-Man and the Captain went at it, while War Machine nearly got Mega Man with a few rockets from his shoulder cannon. Mega Man then leaped at him with a flying kick, but then he held up his forearm, and a crystal-like shield appeared, blocking the kick. War Machine then fired a beam at him from his other shoulder cannon, but just missed. Mega Man then did a ten hit combo, made up of punches and kicks. The last hit was a hard uppercut to the chin.

"Wow, you sure do pack a powerful punch," War Machine said.

"Well, you're sure packed with a lot of weapons," Mega Man commented.

"GYYYEEEEEEGUH!" Spider-Man yelled before a loud whump, he was down for the count.

"Ho boy," Mega Man said before he grabbed War Machine and tossed him in Captain America's general direction. He then turned around and fired a pretty big beam at them, and knocked out War Machine, and he had to go in and finish off Captain America directly. But Cap. Quickly tossed his shield at Mega Man, and got him right in the face, making him stumble backwards a bit. As the Cap grabbed his shield as it came back to him, Mega Man recovered and did a jump punch, right into his chest, knocking the wind out of him, and knocking him out for the count. Mega Man took a few deep breaths before he went over and picked Spider-Man up and left.

"I don't think I can learn any combos from them, I'd better just wait at the next arena," Mega Man said.

"Because the next battle takes place so far away, I'll send a guide," Onslaught said. Soon a pretty darn good copy of Captain America appeared, he looked and sounded like him, even had his build, but, just so they could tell him apart, his costume had different colors. Spider-Man awoke and found himself in some kind of nightclub.

"I take it we won," Spider-Man said.

"I got a lucky shot, barely," Mega Man said.

"I see," Spider-Man said. He then glanced around, and noticed not everyone seemed human, especially the lone guitar player on stage.

"Where in the heck……." Spider-Man started.

"Don't know, but I don't like it," Mega Man replied.

"So, this really isn't our normal nightclub, _great_," Spider-Man said as he got into a relaxed position with his hands behind his head. He and Mega Man were in a dark corner, waiting for the next fighters to arrive.

"So, about those Space Pirates, just how long have you been fighting them?" Spider-Man asked.

"Countless years it would seem, they should have ended years ago, but they found a way to become immortal it would seem," Mega Man said.

"Immortal? That's crazy! How can they be immortal?"

"I didn't say they were sane, they're far from it. They're lunatics, just like their former leader, and their current one."

"Their "Current" one? You mean the former one is gone?"

"I don't know what happened to him, he probably died before they figured out how to become immortal. But either way, my mother died while applying the finishing blow to Ridley, their current leader. He said he soon died from all the wounds we inflicted upon him, but they preserved his remains, and resurrected him, and he killed almost all of my entire colony, except for me, and one child, Samus Aran. She's the last living human from my colony, and look at me, a machine who was once built for normal means, now a creature of destruction!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy pal, I didn't think you had it that bad! Man, you have a more complicated past than I thought. And yet……you don't remember all of it?"

"I remember bits and pieces, but not all of it, I can't even remember what my mother looks like."

"Well, I can relate to the loss of a parent, or at least, someone who was like a parent."

"You can?"

"When I first got my powers, I didn't start off being a hero, I went into show business or starters, so I could make money to help out my aunt and uncle. But then, once day, around where I was working, a robbery too place, and I let the guy slip by, not giving it a second thought. Later that same day, my uncle was murdered, and the police tracked the killer down, but I wanted him first. And then, that's when I found out it was the same man I didn't stop earlier that day. That's when I realized, with great power, comes great responsibility. And from what I can gather from you, you took the power in on your own accord, you took on the responsibility because of what has happened."

"I actually had the power within me since I was born a human, but I didn't have the means to use it. I died a long time ago, a very long time ago. Countless years went by, and my soul soon entered this body, not remembering anything about my past or anything. But once evil started to attack my new home, I felt it was my duty to sop it, and so, I was upgraded, and I've been unlocking this power the whole entire while, and I think I have all of it unlocked now, but I'm not sure. Either way, after awhile, I started to remember my past, small bits and pieces, slowly piecing together like a puzzle, I'm starting to remember. I remember my brother, sister, and father, but my mother…….she's the one memory that's being the most stubborn to return! I want to remember her, but I can't! No matter how hard I try……..I can't recall her voice, or even her eyes…….or her face……I can't remember anything."

"You're a real interesting case, I've never met anyone who has lost their memories like that before, ever. But maybe I can help you find a way to have your memories return?"

"I don't think anyone can help me, they have to return on their own, they either come at random, or one gets triggered by a current event, because it reminds me of an event from the past."

"Maybe your supposed to meet someone who reminds you of your mother?"

"Maybe that's the case, I don't know. All I do know for sure, is that we have to do everything we can to stop the Destiny of Destruction."

"Well, I'm with you all the way, friends for life!"

"We haven't even been together fully for one day, and already your thinking of us as pals?"

"Why not? You seem like someone who needs a few pals here and there."

"Hm, I guess you're right. I do have some friends back where I came from, but they're a good ways away from here. So thanks, Spidey."

"No problem. And not that I'm really complaining mind you, but what in the world is keeping our next opponents?"

"I was about to say it does seem like almost forever since our last fight, I wonder what's keep……." Mega Man was interrupted by a loud crunch that shook the whole place, soon followed by another crunch.

"Ho boy, looks like we got a big one this time," Spider-Man said as he got up as a huge shape was heading towards them from the shadows. Soon a big man with green skin and hair, and purple shorts, stepped out of the shadows, and he was huge and muscular.

"The Hulk? Man are we in for a tough match. But who's the other opponent?" Spider-Man asked.

"Where _is_ the other opponent for that matter?" Mega Man asked.

"Ummmmm, call this a crazy hunch, but maybe this guy is strong enough to be his own team?" Spider-Man asked.

"Well, he's certainly big enough to be his own team," Mega Man replied.

"Well, one thing we can do, as I know ol Hulk has the brain of Dr. Bruce Banner, a renowned scientist, I'm sure he'll tell us who his partner is, if he has one," Spider-Man commented.

"Hey Hulk, old pal, looking as strong as ever. So tell me, where's your-WHOA!" Spider-Man yelped as the Hulk swung at him, and Spider-Man just barely dodged.

"I guess he's not in the mood for talk," Mega Man said.

"He's not himself, do you see his eyes? They're glowing!" Spider-Man said.

"He's possessed!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"Or he's under mind control of some kind, which means his "Partner" has been controlling him from the shadows the whole time!" Spider-Man said as he leaped back to avoid getting smashed by The Hulk's double fist smash.

"You know, that maybe why it took so long for him to get here, the Hulk must have gotten knocked out last match, so it took him awhile to recover I'll bet," Mega Man said as he rolled out of the way as he Hulk tossed a table at him.

"You're probably right, The Hulk turns back into his human form when he gets tired, or knocked out. It probably took a bit to turn him back into The Hulk, and then take control of him again," Spider-Man agreed as he leaped over The Hulk.

"Well, this proves that not everyone wanting to fight Onslaught is on our side," Mega Man said.

"You got that right, anyone on our side wouldn't need to use mind control to have The Hulk join them, this is going to be a bit tricky," Spider-Man said.

"Hope he doesn't bring the house down!" Mega Man said as he just jumped out of the way of The Hulk's attack.

"Try not to get him angry, the madder he gets, the stronger he gets!" Spider-Man warned.

"How the heck are we _not_ going to get him mad as we beat the snot out of him?" Mega Man asked.

"We'll need to think up a way to get him tired so we can knock him out in one or two blows," Spider-Man replied.

"I hate to say it, but I think he's getting madder and madder because he can't hit us," Mega Man said.

"Hm, we'll have to make him exhaust his energy before we take him on," Spider-Man said.

"Hope we don't get tired while making him tired," Mega Man said.

"We should still be in top shape to face his partner once we take him out, let's just try and have him waste his energy in powerful swings," Spider-Man suggested. It sure took a bit of doing, and a lot of close calls of getting clobbered, but soon the Hulk was tired, and Spider-Man and Mega Man got him simultaneously with a hard punch to the face, knocking him out, and turning back to normal.

"Rest easy Doc, you won't be fight another match for the rest of the day," Spider-Man said as he and Mega Man dragged him to a corner of the room where he would be safe as they fought his partner.

"Alright, one down," Mega Man started.

"And one to go," Spider-Man finished.

"That's the second time he's failed me, what a worthless creature," a female voice said, and it had an elegant tone to it.

"Show yourself and fight!" Mega Man demanded.

"We're taking you out, whoever you are. We're not going to let you get to Onslaught, it'll have to be over our dead bodies!" Spider-Man said.

"Careful what you say mortal," the female voice said. Soon two feminine silhouettes appeared next to a nearby table, one was standing next to the table while the other was partly sitting on it. Soon spirit flames appeared around the table, revealing who was there. Two women were at the table, one was younger than the other. The younger one was the one who was standing, they were both wearing almost the exact same outfit, except their color schemes and body types were what helped tell them apart. The younger one looked more gentler, calmer, her hair was a pale-pink, her eyes a bright red, the same as the main part of her outfit, and bat-like wings on her back, and the small ones on the sides of her head. The rest of her outfit was a pale-gray, and there were small, darker-gray images of bats on her legs. The older one was pretty much dressed the same, but different colors and hair style. The older one had long pale-green hair, the same as her eyes, and her out colors were black and a pale-purple. She was partly sitting on the table, one leg all the way on the table, and she held it close to her chest with on arm wrapped around it, and the other leg hanged lazily in the air.

"I am Morrigan, Morrigan Aensland, only daughter of the late Berial Aensland and the ruler of Makai. And this is Lilith, my sister," Morrigan, the older one said as she .

"Are these two……. What you call…. "Succubus" ?" Mega Man asked.

"Yowza! I never thought I would see a Succubus! Or two of them for that matter!" Spider-Man said.

"Hey wait a minute, if there are two of you, why did you use The Hulk?" Spider-Man then asked.

"Because I merge myself with my sister, so she can become stronger, duh!" Lilith replied.

"They aren't from where we come from, little sister, show a little respect, they are highly skilled mortals after all, not like the ones in our world, these two are probably the absolute best this place has to offer, these two might actually be fun," Morrigan said as she leaned back, propping herself up with both hands.

"And not to mention handsome, look at the face of the one fully dressed in blue! And such a build on the one dressed like a spider, he looks so strong, I'll bet he's really handsome!" Lilith said.

"Would you mind taking off your mask? Please, for me?" she then asked.

"Even though you asked nicely, n - o, no! I'm not taking my mask off for anyone!" Spider-Man replied.

"Awww you're no fun! And I tend to dislike guys who are immune to our powers!" Lilith said.

"They maybe immune to your power of seduction, but perhaps mine can do the trick?" Morrigan asked as she pushed herself off of the table, and her feet slightly floated above the floor as she moved towards Spider-Man.

"I'm warning you, I won't hold back just because you're a woman!" Spider-Man said as he pointed at her.

"Oh come now," Morrigan started as she gently took Spider-Man's hand and gently uncurled his fingers and placed his hand on the side of her face.

"I can be anything you want, all you have to do is think about is the person you want most, and I'll be that person," she finished.

"No way!" Spider-Man yelled as he drew his fist back, about to sock Morrigan right in the face, but she quickly leaped back.

"Oh, now is that nice? All I want to do is-YEOW!" she yelled as Mega Man grabbed her by her hair, and tossed her in Lilith's direction, but she flipped a few times and landed softly onto the table.

"HMPH! Such horrid mannerisms! Need I remind you I'm royalty?" Morrigan asked.

"I know royalty when I see it, and you, don't even qualify as royalty!" Mega Man replied as he crossed his arms.

"And besides, the last royalty I met, was much prettier than you," he added smugly.

"You shall regret those words. Lilith!" Morrigan called. Lilith then jumped and landed next to her, and they struck the same pose, and they began to flash as Lilith began to move towards Morrigan, and they merged! But once the flashing stopped, only Morrigan was standing, and she did a small leap from the table.

"Let's begin," she said.

"You know, I'm surprised no one screamed in horror while we fought The Hulk," Mega Man commented.

"I think they enjoyed watching the fight," Spider-Man said.

"Strange place," Mega Man commented.

"Never said it was normal," Spider-Man said as he jumped at Morrigan, and nearly walloped her, but the wings on her back grew and wrapped around her front, and blocked Spider-Man's hit.

"Ouch! Those wings sure are tough!" Spider-Man said as he held his hand.

"YIPE!" He then yelled as Morrigan's hair shot forward at his face, but he tilted his head back just in time. He then ducked as she did a horizontal swipe at him. She then stretched out her wings, and many spikes on cords came out.

"YEEP!" Spider-Man yelped as he barely made a web shield in time, as he just managed to stop the spikes in their tracks, although they did rip slightly through the webbing. Spider-Man, sadly, didn't let go of the shield fast enough, as the spikes were still attached to Morrigan's wings, so he was quickly hoisted into the air, and slammed into the ground a few times. After one last slam, Morrigan twisted her body around and the spikes melted, and Spider-Man crashed into a few chairs and tables. She turned around just as Mega Man ran up, and kicked him in the side of the leg, and she quickly turned around, and did a back kick, right into his stomach. After she quickly turned back, while Mega Man was still reacting to the pain, she brought one leg way back, and then tilted back as she brought it forward, and a blade appeared at the end of her boot, and slashed Mega Man right in the chest, sending him backwards, she kicked so swiftly, it was like a graceful ballet kick. After he landed on his back, he quickly rolled forward and landed a hard blow to the stomach, a mean right hook to the face, a swift kick to the upper leg, a hard hammer drop to the back of the head, and then finished with a hard leap, spin kick. Morrigan spun through the air, and landed on her back, but then the wings on her back and head, turned into little bats, and they fluttered around for a little bit, and then got under her, and lifted her back to her feet, and then morphed back into wings as she stood there and appeared to be unaffected. That is until she rubbed the side and back of her head.

"Now that's not how you treat a woman," she said.

"You're no woman in my book!" Mega Man said.

"You'll pay for that insult! Soul Fist!" Morrigain yelled as she held her arm back and made a fist as her back wings turned into some kind of mechanical device, and as she thrust her arm forward, and energy ball flashing many colors shot towards Mega Man at fast speeds and knocked the wind out of him as he sailed back a little and hit the ground with a light thud. He shook his head a few times before he saw his chest steam a little.

"Now that hurt. So let's see how you like this!" Mega Man said as he aimed his buster at her, and fired a fairly powered up shot, but she quickly brought her wings forward again, and when the shot hit, it kept going for a bit, pushing her back, but she was uninjured.

"Hm, that was a bit impressive, you're a pretty good energy user, that stung a little," Morrigan said. She was injured, but only slightly from the heat.

"So, want to see my best energy attack?" she then asked darkly.

"Absolutely not!" Mega Man as he dashed towards her, and she pulled out her wings again, but he then went into a power slide when he was really close. She managed to let out a slight gasp of shock before he plowed into her legs, flipping her over onto her back.

"Why you little-GULK!" Morrigan gagged as Mega Man grabbed her by the neck and lifted her over his shoulder, and slammed her into the ground. But she quickly got behind him as she rose up with the help of her bats, and grabbed him from behind. Her wings then turned into boosters and lifted them both into the air as they spun like a corkscrew, and spun really fast as they flipped upside down, and she plowed Mega Man headfirst into the ground.

"Ohhhhh my aching noggin!" Mega Man moaned after he stood up and stumbled a little bit. But he then quickly leaped at Morrigan, which took her by surprise because she thought he would be dazed for much longer, grabbed hold of her, leaped into the air, and spun a few times, and then kicked her into the ground while they were upside down. Morrigan let out a growl as she propelled herself off of the ground and thought she was upright, as she thought she hit the ceiling.

"Darkness Illusion!" she yelled as she used her boosters to quickly moved towards Mega Man.

"Uh oh!" Mega Man said before she rammed into him, and then another Morrigan appeared behind him, and they both started to beat on his with great speed and power. She then knocked him towards what she thought was the ceiling, but it was the floor, and reappeared next to him before he hit, and started beating on him again but she launched him towards the ceiling and knocked him through the roof.

"Whoops, I was upside down the whole time! Heh heh," Morrigan giggled before Spider-Man nailed her with a hard punch, a jump kick, a downward punch, an elbow to the gut, a knee to the face, and then grabbed her by her ankle and spun into the air a few times before he tossed her into the ground.

"Come on!" he then taunted.

"You're just asking for punishment, arachnid-boy!" Morrigan said bitterly.

"That's Spider-Man to you, you old hag!" Spider-Man said as he tried to hit Morrigan, but she slid back.

"Old hag? My, my, aren't we the insulting one?" Morrigan said as she grabbed Spider-Man by the neck, and her wings started to wrap around her arm, heading towards Spider-Man.

"Ohhhh momma!" Spider-Man exclaimed before the stuff formed around Morrigan's hand and made it look like a demon claw, and she drew her arm back, and thrust it forward, and it extended all the way to the far side of the room, smashing Spider-Man into a wall.

"Uhhhhh…..that's gonna leave a mark," Spider-Man moaned after he fell to his knees.

"You certainly aren't a normal human, just what are you really? No mere human can acquire such skill and strength by normal means, no matter how intense the training they may have had," Morrigan said.

"Well, you're right about one thing, I'm no normal human, not anymore. When I was a little younger, I was bitten by a radio active Spider, not a normal Spider. I soon gained incredible strength, and a few powers. Except webbing, I had to figure that out for myself," Spider-Man replied.

"So I assume you can stick to walls, but what else?" Morrigan asked.

"Ever wondered why It's so hard to stomp a spider?

"I never tried, but do tell why."

"Very simple really, a kind of sixth sense they have."

"Sixth sense? I believe I've heard of that."

'Man this is gonna be close, I'll need ol Mega to help me finish her off, but he probably won't land back in here, I'll need to take this battle to the roof.'

"Wait a minute, you're trying to stall for that guy I knocked through the roof! Well I won't fall for it!"

"To late!" Spider-Man replied as he quickly shot webbed at her, webbing her arms to her sides, her feet to the floor, and some to cover her face and mouth. She made various sounds of displeasure as she struggled to get free as Spider-Man quickly used his webbing to zip up to the ceiling, and climbed out of the hole.

'I need room to breathe, and to keep on breathing! Come on Mega Man, where are you?' Spider-Man asked in his head. Back in the room, the wings on the sides of Morrigan's head, quickly turned into bats, and ripped the webbing off of her face.

"That does it!" she said as the bats went back to the sides of her head and turned into wings again. Soon the wings on her back quickly got under the webbing that held her arms, and blades burst out of it, cutting her arms free.

"I'll tear that arachnid fool limb by limb!" she as shed started cutting her feet free as a blade formed around her arm.

"Uh oh, I was hoping that would hold her for longer, this is going to bad," Spider-Man said. He then spotted Mega Man starting to climb over the edge of the roof.

"Whew, nearly had a nasty ring out there," Mega Man said.

"Hang on, I'll pull you up!" Spider-Man called as he started to run over, but then Morrigan shot out of the hole with her jet boosters on, and grabbed him as she flew by, and started to spin like a top.

"Oh no you don't!" Spider-Man said as he propel-kicked off of Morrigan. Morrigan yelped in pain when she landed on her back.

"I've about had it with you!" Morrigan exclaimed as she stood up.

"Blah blah blah, I've heard it all before," Spider-Man said. Morrigan then let out a growl of frustration, but then a dark smile came across her face.

"I nearly repeated the same mistake as all the others it would seem," she said.

"What do you mean?" Spider-Man asked.

"They would get so mad when they couldn't land a hit on you, and they started to get real reckless, I almost lost myself," Morrigan replied.

'Something tells me this fight is going to get a _lot_ harder,' Mega Man thought as he was just about back up.

"Silhouette Blade!" Morrigan yelled as she thrust her arm upwards, and images of Lilith, doing a upward slash attack, started rising up out of the ground, going from Morrigan, to Spider-Man. Spider-Man managed to leap over the attack, and was headed right for Morrigan, ready to apply a kick.

"You're mine! Soul Eraser!" she yelled as she held her arm forward, and some of the wings formed around it, and made huge laser cannon, and two slightly smaller ones appeared around her, complete with wing frills. Spider-Man's Spider-sense kicked in when the lasers appeared, but there was nothing he could do. All three beams fired at once, and nailed him, and the two that were floating next to Morrigain, began to circle around her, hitting Spider-Man in more than one place, and he screamed in agony as he was shot back, and hit the ground in a limp pile, but still alive.

"I wonder what your soul is like? Morrigan asked as she walked forward.

"Don't touch him again," Mega Man warned as he walked his way towards Morrigan.

"Fine then. I'm more interested in you anyway," Morrigan said.

"Spare me your Succubus comments, you monster," Mega Man said he waved his hand.

"Just how in the world are your wills so strong? I guess there's one way to find out," Morrigan said.

"Bring it!" Mega Man said as he took a battle stance.

"Your soul shall be mine, and if your soul if how I think it is, I may keep you around as a servant," Morrigan said.

"Life, or living death, not interested," Mega Man replied.

"I'm offering you immortality, and enjoyment for the rest of your life."

"I don't harm people for fun, and if you think I don't quite comprehend the harm you are capable, you're mistaken. I know you go into the dreams of men, and take their souls and add them to your power."

"Hm, you're a real sharp one, and I can feel something deep within you, a power of darkness it would seem." Morrigan's last statement made Mega Man narrow his eyes.

"Hm hm hm, how cute. And yet so similar to someone else from where I come from. He is a very skilled hunter, who has demon powers within himself, but he does not give into them, instead, he uses them to fight evil, very similar to you it would seem." she added.

"I hate to disappoint you, but this dark power entered my body, long after I acquired the power you've seen me use. So if you think I'm using the dark power, you're mistaken, I never wanted it, and I don't intend to use it, ever! I have to be rid of it, or else it will consume me, and The Destiny of Destruction will take place." Morrigan blinked a few times.

"Are you telling me that this event called "The Destiny of Destruction" will happen when you die?"

"Not exactly when I die, or rather die too soon, it will take some time for it to happen, but I don't expect someone like you to believe me."

"Oh, and I suppose someone like him would believe you?" And with that, she got hit by a charge shot.

"I wouldn't expect you, or anyone like you to believe or understand what I've been through all these long years!"

"So, you've been around for a long time already, that sure is interesting to know."

"I've been around a lot longer than you, that's for sure."

"I highly doubt that, but then again, if you're aging slowly, then you probably are a lot older then you appear. But there is only one way to find out if you really are as old as you say."

"You stay out of my mind!"

"Make me!" Morrigan taunted as she dashed towards Mega Man, to try and take him by surprise, but he blocked the attack. They swapped many combos back and forth, although they blocked every single one, it was a sight to behold, and Spider-Man was starting to recover a bit, and saw a good bit of it. Mega Man tried to grab hold of her again, but then her wings turned into tendril-like things and took a good hold of him.

"Let me go!" Mega Man yelled.

"Now I've got you right where I want you!" Morrigan said.

"I'm warning you, you probably won't like what you see," Mega Man warned.

"I'll be the judge of that," Morrigan said as she peered into his eyes. Mega Man didn't want to, but he was forced to look into her pale green eyes.

"What secrets do you hide? What makes you so powerful? Just what kind of life did you live up until now?" Morrigan asked as she looked deeper into his eyes, and placed her hands on the sides of his face. Soon events and voices began to play in her mind, some of the voices sounded normal, but some sounded really disoriented. Sometimes his own voice played here and there.

"You helped make this victory turn into a masterpiece."

"I love you Rock, I don't know what I would do if I lost you, and I feel afraid about it."

"You have fought for so long, join with me, and you shall suffer no more. You're mine, and mine alone!"

"You think another all out slaughter is coming?"

"I don't just think, I can feel it."

"You have a duty to perform, let me do mine."

"NO! Endymion!"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"Don't worry; your time has not come yet. Your end is not here, it doesn't end like this, not yet."

"You shall be reborn."

"It is time to finish this."

"Rock, you can't face him, he'll kill you!"

"It is better to face your destiny rather then to run from it, for it will find you either way."

"We will share the universe together, one galaxy at a time."

"Sonic, I presume?"

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I am Princess Zelda."

"I'm Link, nice to meet you."

"If I am offered the chance to return to life, I'll take it."

"You're that boy I killed all those years ago! HAHAHA! That was well over a life time ago! Or rather a few life times, like well over a few millenniums to be more accurate."

"I'll miss you Rock. Do you think we'll meet again?"

"I can't promise that, but I would like to believe that we will meet again someday, if fate will allow it, I will never forget you." Those were the last words to be spoken in his mind, but then a horrific face appeared, one that would drive anyone mad if they stared at it for to long. Morrigan did a slight leap back as she shrieked as the image was still I her mind, which gave Mega Man a perfect opening, he brought his hand back, and it started to glow, and he did a slight leap forward, and punched Morrigan, and a slight image of something appeared for a brief second, and Morrigan sailed backwards into a wall.

"My ribs! That nearly shattered bone in my body….guh….such strength…… you really aren't human anymore…….and yet……how can you live like that?" Morrigan asked.

"It's something that I had to accept, it's who I am now. But I have to ask, I don't think you belong here, so where are you from?" Mega Man asked.

"No place you heard of, I can tell you that. But I didn't come here of my own accord, that Onslaught……he opened a portal, if not many, when he became active. So I took it upon myself to stop him, before he came to my world. But You seem more than capable to handle him, I place my fate in your hands," Morrigan replied.

"I don't want anything to do with you," Mega Man said darkly.

"I understand that, and I now believe in The Destiny of Destruction. I'm not sure what I can do, but I'll do what I can to help prevent it, even though we come from different worlds, all of our lives ride on this, don't fail us," Morrigan said before she managed to fly off. Mega Man took a few steps forward as he watched her, a rather dark expression on his face.

"For your sake Morrigan, we'd better not meet again," Mega Man said.

"So uhh, what exactly happened?" Spider-Man asked as he walked over, holding his sore arm, but technically, a lot of him was sore.

"She saw a bit of my memory, what I remember anyway, and what events that technically hold meaning for me. I was seeing what she was seeing, and we both saw the dark being that now resides within, I hae to find a way to get rid of it, or else it will consume me," Mega Man replied.

"So when were you going to tell me about that?" Spider-Man asked rather crossly.

"I was going to give you the full story once we find the man with the soul of the Bat, and let me tell you this, if I wanted to kill you, I'd have done it after you told me where to find the "Batman"," Mega Man replied.

"Was that a guess?" Spider-Man asked.

"I kind of figured that would be his name after I met you," Mega Man replied.

"You do have a point," Spider-Man said.

"Either way we need to take the professor back with us," Mega Man said. Awhile later after taking Professor Banner back to the city, they soon came across a man and a woman. The man looked very strong and muscular, his hair was brown, had a red bandana wrapped around his head, and wore white clothes, which were long pants which were slightly torn at the hem, and a shirt where the slveaves appeared to have been torn off, and he looked Japanese. The woman was wearing a blue Chinese outfit, with gold hemming, and she wore dark leggings, and white boots that tie in the front, and they figured her hair was a little bit long, but she had it tied up in balls on the sides of her head, which were covered by a white covering, and she looked Chinese.

"So who are you two?" Mega Man asked.

"My name is Ryu," the man replied.

"And I am Chun Li."

"The name's Mega Man."

"And I'm Spider-Man."

"Well, I hope you have some skill," Chun Li said.

"You should have seen our last fight," Mega Man said as he took a battle stance.

"Sorry I missed it," Ryu said as he tightened his bandana and straightened his fingerless gloves.

"It would be nice to fight someone normal for a change," Mega Man said.

"Then that would be to easy," Spider-Man said. This battle was a bit tough, as Ryu and Chun Li had hidden abilities like no other, their moves swift, and strike hard, they were a force to be reckoned with. And even though things seemed like it would go on forever, Mega Man and Spider-Man won.

"You know………I always wondered what it would be like…….to fight against real fighters," Spider-Man said as he took deep breathes here and there.

"You know, I think I can learn a lot from you two," Mega Man said.

"I think I might be able to help you unlock more of your strength," Ryu said.

"Unlock more of it?" Mega Man asked.

"Even though you didn't use it in this fight, I can feel, a very special attack resides within you, the Dragon's Fury," Ryu replied."The Dragon's Fury?" Mega Man asked.

"Wasn't that the move you use on Morrigan?" Spider-Man asked.

"I used it on an enemy as well, but I had no idea what it was," Mega Man replied.

"All the more reason to help you unlock it fully, you are a person of peace and justice, you've had a rough past, that's why the Dragon's Fury chose you, I'll help you master it," Ryu said. They trained for a long while, even afer Mega Man mastered the Dragon's Fury.

"You know, you've trained quite a bit, why do you want to continue with the training, even though you've mastered the Dragon's Fury?" Ryu asked.

"Because, I need to learn all I can, to pass it on to the next generation, the fate of the future will depend on them," Mega Man replied. The hours passed, and it was finally time, our two heroes reached Onslaught's floating platform which overlooked the city. They soon came face to face with Onslaught himself, he was huge, he towered over both of them. His armor was red and purple, and though the front of his helmet was fairly open, they couldn't see anything except his glow what eyes. His armor appeared to very durable, and didn't seem to hinder his movement, of course he was floating, but he didn't seem hindered by how bulky it looked. He had his hand glanced into a fist, and a glowing flame was surrounded it.

"You have done well to make it this far, but now your journey is over," Onslaught said.

"Wrong, our journey is just beginning," Mega Man replied.

"I'm not going to let you destroy the world, we have a lot of work that needs to be done, and we'll see you stopped!" Spider-Man said.

"Foolish mortals, you think you can stand against me? Feel my Fury!" Onslaught yelled as he thrust his hand downward, and pillars of energy started to shoot up out of the ground, heading to them, but they got out of the way.

"You'll have to do better then that if you want to beat us!" Spider-Man said as he jump-kicked Onslaught right in the stomach, surprisingly made him hunch over and make a sound of pain.

"Guess the armor is just for show," Spider-Man said.

"Look out!" Mega Man warned, and Spider-Man avoided his claw swipe, as the tips of his fingers were quite sharp.

"You don't believe in my might it would seem," Onslaught said as he thrust him arm forward, and a whole bunch of metal rocks appeared and shot towards them, and though they did get hit by a few, they managed to avoid getting hit by the brunt of the attack.

"You know, it would seem you're not as powerful as we once thought, you don't have an real power or strength,"

"Oh my power is real alright!" Onslaught said as he charged forward with energy flowing around him, and rammed into Mega Man and sent him flying a bit.

"Lucky shot," Mega Man said as Onslaught warped in front of him.

"Dragon's Fury!" Mega Man yelled as he rammed his fist into Onslaught, and made him yell as a blidning light enveloped the area, and then he was gone.

"Now that was an unexpected attack, and very powerful," Onslaught's voice echoed.

"Come on back out, you big coward!" Spider-Man called. Soon lights flashed and explosions sounded at the far end of the platform, and soon Onslaught arose, much bigger, and his helmet was off, and his face looked skeletal.

""Enough of your games you imposter, give Xavier to us!" Spider-Man said.

"So that's the real reason you're fighting me, to save an old man," Onslaught said.

"We're also here to stop from altering the course of history for the entire universe!" Mega Man said.

"Then it would appear that no one is be safe," Onslaught said.

"I'll stop you here and now!" Mega Man said. Onslaught then charged at them with his hand forward, and nearly impaled them.

"This is going to be a tricky fight, and I'll bet anything that his weak point now is his head!" Spider-Man said.

"That's right where I was gonna aim," Mega Man replied. Onslaught's attacks were fast and vicious, and hard to avoid. With one hard swing, he nearly broke every bone in Spider-Man's body. Mega Man and Onslaught went at it for a few while, and it began to look like Onslaught would win.

"Foolish boy, you had no chance at victory," Onslaught said. But then, Mega Man's arm began to spark with huge amounts of energy.

"I've been charging this the whole while, so you're finished!" Mega Man said as he pointed his buster at Onslaught, and let loose a huge beam, much, much huger than any other blast he's ever fired before. It plowed into Onslaught, and flowed around him, inflicting great damage, and he yelled in great pain, and soon there was a blinding light, and once it faded, Mega Man was standing over Xavier, who was lying unconscious on the ground.

"You did it!" Spider-Man exclaimed.

"The threat of Onslaught is over, now we just have to return him to the X-Men," Mega Man said. A good while later, all was well, and Mega Man was considered a great hero, and a great friend and ally.

"So Xavier was taken over by his dark side, and it merged itself with the Powers of Magneto. I'm willing to bet that Onslaught made himself look like a beefed up version of Magneto, or something along those lines, but either way, that was just a battle, the war is just beginning," Mega Man said while he was resting in the cargo hold of a plane heading for Gotham. And he was right, the War was just beginning, and soon a dark conspiracy shall arise, and he will work with many that will become legends.

End Chapter 17


	18. THe Dark Knight

Important notice! If you haven't played Batman, Arkham Asylum, and plan to, or haven't beaten it, and don't want anything spoiled for you, don't read this chapter yet! I borrowed a few plot elements for this one.

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 18

The Dark Knight

Soon the airplane from New York arrived at Gotham City around nighttime. Mega Man waited for Spider-Man to don his costume again, and meet him at one of the rooftops. Spider-Man soon arrived in record time.

"So how do we find Batman?" Mega Man asked.

"Well, there is a very simple way to find him, or rather have him find us," Spider-Man said as he led to the way. They soon arrived at the Gotham Police Department.

"I'm not exactly sure how he's supposed to find us here," Mega Man said before Spider-Man did something that made a loud noise. Glancing over, he saw Spider-Man had turned on the switch for a light, and he soon saw a bat symbol in the sky.

"Oh, that's how," Mega Man commented.

"This sure comes in handy, especially when the police get ahold of a clue that they think might help Batman out," Spider-Man said.

"By the way, and I know this sounds weird to ask, but does your secret identity have a good reason for coming here?" Mega Man asked.

"School trip, lasts a whole week," Spider-Man replied.

"I see, and with so many people coming here, it would be hard to figure out who Spider-Man was."

"I was lucky last trip here, and I hope our luck lasts."

"So do I. I hope we make it through this whole adventure alive, and in one piece if possible."

"Ah, here he comes." Mega Man looked over, and saw a bat-like shadow move through the air towards them on a cable of some kind, and soon, a man dressed in a black cape, a mask with white slits, gloves and boots, and a black bat symbol with its wings stretched out to the sides on his chest, and the rest of the outfit was gray. His mask had points at the top sides of his hard that curved backwards, and the mask covered his whole face, except his mouth and chin. And he had a yellow belt with many pouches around his waist. He had a fair amount of muscle, and it was hard to tell how old he was.

"Batman, I presume?" Mega Man asked.

"Who's your friend?" Batman asked Spider-Man.

"I met him yesterday, his name is Mega Man," Spider-Man replied.

"Well, now that I have the two of you together, I can fully explain myself, and why I'm here," Mega Man said. Batman gave Spider-Man a puzzled look.

"He didn't explain anything to me yet, though he did say he was here on a mission," Spider-Man said.

"Very well then, continue," Batman said.

"I'll start where I can first remember, as I've lost a lot of memories, but here is what I still remember," Mega Man started.

"In ages long ago, my colony once lived on one of the many planet Earths, that is until the planet started to become uninhabitable. The colony traveled the stars, in search of a new home, and they soon found one. They lived there for many years, and soon I was born. A King was soon crowned, and I was enlisted in his services along with the rest of my family. After a few years, different races came and went, making peace with us, and making us aware that there were more than just humans in the universe. After many years of peace, an evil came, and shattered it. They were called the Invaders at the time, but they soon became known as the Space Pirates. There were two most distinguishable people among them: Zoda, their human-like leader, and Ridley, his dragon-like second-in-command. They destroyed our home, and set out to completely destroy another race. I saved the royal children from being killed and very well the whole race from extinction, but where they are now, I don't know. But, either way, we needed a new home, and we found out about a place called the Moon Kingdom."

"The Moon Kingdom? You really mean a kingdom on the moon?" Spider-Man asked.

"You wouldn't happen to mean this moon, would you?" Batman asked as he pointed at the moon in the sky.

"Probably none other, I can feel…a familiar presence coming from it. I've looked at a whole bunch of different moons as I traveled here, but I never really felt anything from them, unlike this one. I believe I found my second home," Mega Man replied as he looked at the moon with joy.

"But I'll have to find a way to get there later," he went on. "Right now, we have some important matters to discuss. I was told to find you two, in order to help me set into motion the events to stop The Destiny of Destruction."

"The Destiny of Destruction?" Batman asked.

"It is an event in which almost all life ends. I don't know all of the details, but I know that we have to work together, along with many others if we hope to save the future," Mega Man replied.

"So by setting into motion the events to stop The Destiny of Destruction, you wouldn't happen to mean getting the next generation--as in our children--ready, would it?" Spider-Man asked.

"That may be a good possibility," Mega Man replied.

"I see. So, Bats, anything going on around here lately?" Spider-Man asked.

"As a matter of fact, I was hoping the Commissioner had information for me when I saw the signal," Batman replied kind of sadly.

"Something happened didn't it?" Mega Man asked.

"Robin is missing," Batman replied.

"Robin?" Mega Man asked.

"One of Batman's partners. You mean he hasn't been seen anywhere?" Spider-Man asked.

"Not for almost a week," Batman replied.

"And no ransomed demands?" Spider-Man asked.

"Nothing," Batman replied.

"Don't worry, we'll help you find him, and if he was kidnapped, we'll make whoever did it pay," Mega Man said. At that moment, Commissioner James Gordon came out onto the roof via the stairway.

"Batman, we've got something, but it's probably a trap," he said, not noticing Mega Man or Spider-Man at the moment.

"We don't have much choice," Batman replied.

"Wait a minute, how'd you get here without me turning on the….."

"We did," Spider-Man cut Gordon short.

"Well, at least this message doesn't tell you to come alone," Gordon said as he handed Batman a piece of paper.

"We're headed for the warehouse district," Batman said after he looked at the paper.

"Right," Mega Man said as he and Spider-Man quickly followed. After a few minutes, they were outside a huge warehouse.

"So this is the place," Spider-Man said.

"We move in, but with caution," Mega Man said.

"With me around, you don't need to worry much," Spider-Man said before Batman slowly opened the door, and they stepped in; no one was in sight. But they didn't like it.

"Old abandoned warehouses, amazing how no one ever thinks to look in these places," Spider-Man said.

"Sometimes it is hard to spot one that would make a good hiding place, however I don't think this is where they're keeping Robin," Batman said. The place was full of boxes and non-active conveyor belts. The room setups were so similar, it was hard to tell them apart. They were about halfway through one of the rooms when Spider-Man's spider-sense started acting up.

"Danger? But where…DUCK!" Spider-Man yelled. And Spider-Man and Batman ducked, as Mega Man back flipped over a huge chain that ripped through the boxes to their right, and it went over Spider-Man and Batman, and under Mega Man, and ripped through the boxes to their left.

"Whoa! That guy must really have a strong arm to be able to swing a chain that big!" Mega Man said.

"Bane!" Batman exclaimed. And standing at the far side of the room was Bane, a man with huge muscles, dressed in black, his arms bare, fingerless gloves, a device on his left hand that had a cord that went to the back of his head, and a mask that covered his entire face, except his mouth.

"It has been a while, Batman, and I see you brought some new friends, too bad they won't be too much of help to you," Bane said.

"Where's Robin?" Batman demanded.

"The boy is not here, but I do know where he is, as well as her," Bane replied as he gestured towards Mary Jane, who was bound in chains, hanging from the ceiling, and a cloth wrapped around her mouth.

"Leave her out of this!" Spider-Man yelled as Mary Jane struggled to try and get free, and was making various muffled noises.

"Too late, she stumbled across our little hiding spot by accident, or rather we found her eavesdropping on a few of us, and now knows the location of robin," Bane replied.

"Another reason to beat the snot out of you and put you out of commission," Mega Man said.

"Fine by me, this shall be our final battle," Bane said as he pressed a button on a remote control.

"What did you just do?" Batman asked.

"I activated the bombs that are below this building, and we are in the very center," Bane replied.

"You're insane!" Spider-Man said.

"Do not worry, I just made the bombs live, the timer hasn't started yet," Bane said.

"I suppose so you can give us a more accurate time estimate?" Mega Man asked.

"Quite right, once the timer is activated, we will have about ten minutes to battle," Bane replied. He then pressed another button, and then crushed the remote.

"Starting now," he added as he quickly whipped the chain again, and this time Mega Man slid under the chain, and Batman ducked, and Spider-Man did a front-flip and shot webbing at Bane, and got him in the eyes, blinding him. Batman tossed a really sharp Batarang at the top of the chain the held Mary Jane up, and she fell to the floor once it was cut, but she couldn't move as she was tightly bound. Spider-Man did a right hook to Bane's face, and a left hook, a spinning jump-kick to the side of the head, and a downwards punch to the top of the head. But he then barely avoided one of Bane's wild punches.

'Yipe! Nearly forgot that this guy has huge muscle to swing around! And even though I've temporarily blinded him, he's still a threat with those big long arms he has!' Spider-Man thought as he jumped out of harm's way.

"Man, I've never dealt with chains before!" Mega Man said as he and Batman tried to untie Mary Jane.

"You know, this is the second time I'm getting you out of a…" Mary Jane cut Mega Man short with a muffled yet loud scream, and he grabbed hold of her, and he and Batman rolled out of the way to avoid getting smashed by Bane's punch.

"Man, that's some good hearing he has," Mega Man commented as he got to high ground. Bane then finally ripped the webbing off, and he could see again. He then ran for Batman, who socked him in the ribs, but he grabbed Batman by the head, and rammed his back into a bunch of crates, knocking them over. Batman grabbed both sides of Bane's wrist to try and get free as Bane lifted him up, while slowly tightening his grip. Bane then got hit in the back by a shot from Mega Man, which made him drop batman, who then did a sweep kick quickly after he landed, and knocked Bane's feet right out from under him, slightly shaking the place when he hit the floor. Mega Man then broke one of the chain links, and Mary Jane was free.

"We've spent enough time here, we've got to move!" Mega Man called.

"Come on, follow me!" Mary Jane said as she ran.

"You won't leave here alive!" Bane said as he tried to tackle Batman, but Mega Man got in the way, and got him in the chest with a charged shot, sending him flying backwards. They ran through a few rooms before Bane came crashing through one of the walls. Spider-Man then got in front of him, and then started to unleash many combos on him while avoiding his attacks. However Bane soon grabbed him by the head and flung him into a wall.

"Yeow! It felt like my head was about to be ripped off!" Spider-Man exclaimed. Bane then rammed into Mega Man and sent him flying into a wall and shook the place a little.

"Uhh is this what it feels like to be rammed by a rhino or an over-sized speeding truck?" Mega Man asked.

"I could have sworn that would have broken every bone in your body, perhaps I misjudged?" Bane asked.

"Oh, you hit hard enough to break bone for sure, all you did was just jumble me a bit, but that still hurt like mad though," Mega Man replied as he got to his feet.

"Well then, allow me to put you out of your misery, senor," Bane said.

"Bring it, muscle-man," Mega Man said as he gave the "Come here" hand gesture.

"My pleasure," Bane said as he pressed a button on the device on his wrist, and he doubled in size within seconds.

"I never thought I'd meet a human that would be willing to alter his own body," Mega Man said.

"All the better to break all of you," Bane said. Mega Man then shot him with a small energy shot, but it didn't really do anything now, and Bane charged him.

"Speeding bull, huh?" Mega Man asked slyly before he slid at Bane's legs and made him trip, and plow through the wall.

"You seem to handle yourself pretty good," Batman commented.

"Years worth of experience, but save the compliments till after we get out of this bomb-shed," Mega Man said.

"I couldn't agree more," Spider-Man said as he swung by and scooped up Mary Jane and soon sailed out of the building. Mega Man and Batman were nearly out when Bane jumped out of the floor ahead of them.

"We don't have time for this Bane, the place is going to blow any minute!" Batman exclaimed. But Bane knocked Mega Man aside, and Batman tried to sock Bane across the face, but Bane got him in a bear-hug.

"Then we'll go together, so long as I go down as the man who killed the Bat!" Bane said. Spider-Man was about to head back in, but Mega Man then shot the doorway shut.

"You're a fool, sealing the three of us in," Bane said.

"There's more than one way out this place," Mega Man said.

"And you don't have much time, but enough time to watch the Bat die," Bane said as he really tightened his grip, but Mega Man then tossed the really sharp Batarang that Batman tossed before, and nailed Bane's wrist device.

"NO!" Bane exclaimed as he dropped Batman and ripped the device off at both ends, and he went back to his normal size. Mega Man then shot a hole in the roof, and Batman used his grapple to get out, and was about to send it back down so Mega Man could get out, but Bane then tackled him.

"Get going! Before the place blows!" Mega Man yelled as he knocked Bane back. Batman didn't want to leave him, but he left. Bane then ripped out a huge metal pipe and made a growl as he went towards Mega Man.

"Where's Mega Man?" Spider-man called to Batman as he jumped from the roof.

"He's still inside, but we have to move!" Batman replied as he ran towards Spider-Man and Mary Jane. But then the whole place blew, and sent them flying a little. After they bounced a few times, Spider-Man made a big web-shield to protect them from the falling debris. Soon the loud clanging and banging of metal and the like stopped, and Spider-Man lowered the shield.

"Do you think he survived?" Mary Jane asked.

"I'm not sure anyone could survive that, the whole place went up in smoke," Spider-Man replied. Batman then went closer just to make sure, and then something shifted in the rubble which made him stop. Soon a huge piece of metal rose into the air and fell away from where it once rested, and soon a figure emerged, and walked towards him.

"Remind me not to pull a stunt like that again for awhile," Mega Man said, who was only slightly damaged.

"How did you survive?" Batman asked once Mega Man was closer.

"Bane apparently forgot where he planted some of the bombs, as he was standing over one when it went off, which is probably why I'm the only one alive, as I got buried in rubble within a few seconds, which protected me from the brunt of the blasts," Mega Man replied.

"You're one lucky guy," Batman commented.

"Well, my luck is finally changing for the better," Mega Man said. A while later that night, and the Bat-Mobile plowed through the old gate of Arkham Asylum.

"I should have known, the old Arkham building makes a perfect hideout!" Batman said as the Bat-Mobile shot across the dirt road.

"So what I heard was true, they did make a new higher security asylum!" Spider-Man said.

"So let me guess, a good number of the inmates got loose during transfer?" Mega Man asked.

"That about sums it up," Batman replied

"What do you suppose they want with Robin? Or do you now have an assumption for how long it's been since he's vanished?" Spider-Man asked. "'Cause I sadly came up with one," he added darkly.

"So have I," Batman replied before they stopped.

"Someone is crazy enough to use this dump?" Mega Man asked as they jumped out of the Bat-Mobile.

"Well, we are dealing with escaped lunatics," Spider-Man replied. Soon the Bat-Plane arrived, and Batgirl came out, dressed in all black, except for her yellow gloves, boots, bat-symbol, and slightly blue mask, a cape blue on the outside, yelled on the inside. Her light-blue eyes were visible, and she had long red hair.

"Batgirl, I presume?" Mega Man asked.

"Batman, you do realize we might not be getting Robin back?" Batgirl asked sadly.

"That may be true, but we have to stop them tonight," Batman replied. "And this time, for the last time," he added very darkly before he kicked the double doors open.

"So how many of the inmates escaped?" Mega Man asked.

"Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, and The Joker," Batman replied as they walked down the abandoned halls, which were cracked, had doors hanging off of their hinges, and some of the upper rafters fell down.

"Wow, amazing on how much a place can fall apart so quickly without anyone to take care of it," Spider-Man commented.

"Well, the entrance is a mess anyway," Batgirl said. They climbed over the wreckage, while Spider-Man scaled the walls. So far, the place seemed empty and dead, until they entered a garden area, which still appeared to be in good shape. There were rows of plants in boxed in dirt areas.

"Something tells me this is Ivy's area," Spider-Man said.

"So, Ivy loves plants a bit too much?" Mega Man asked.

"A bit too much is an understatement, try she loves plants way more than people," Spider-Man replied.

"But then again, same thing," he added and he and Mega Man both shrugged.

"Wait a minute, if these are _her _plants…" Batgirl paused.

"Keep your guard up, the both of you," Batman warned.

"Mutated plants?" Mega Man asked.

"First for you?" Spider-Man asked.

"A lot of things here are a first for me, I've only dealt with robots. But then again, I did go up against a robot named Plant Man once," Mega Man replied. Mega Man followed Batman and Batgirl on foot while Spider-Man climbed across the ceiling. Things were quite until…"Spider-sense! Danger!" Spider-Man exclaimed. Glancing towards the floor and saw what looked like the tip of a huge tree root heading right for him. "WHOA!" he barley avoided getting smashed and impaled as he dove to a wall. The falling ceiling from the root smashing through the roof , and forcing the trio below to dive out of the way. Mega Man then got buried under some of the smaller bits of the rubble, while Batman and Batgirl banged into some of the plant holders.

"Why have you come here?" a woman's voice asked.

"We're looking for Robin, and you'd best tell us where he is!" Batman replied.

"The boy isn't here, I'm in control of this place. Where you need to head is Arkham Island," the woman said.

"Arkham Island? You mean that is the new location for the Asylum?" Mega Man asked as he began to push the rubble off of himself.

"Oh dear, you don't suppose Joker is going to…" Spider-Man didn't get to ask.

"Take over the Island?" Mega Man asked.

"The Asylum pretty much covers the whole island, this will take a bit of doing," Batman said.

"Considering all the defensive measures?" Mega Man asked.

"That, and he'll probably release all of the inmates," Batman replied.

"Dandy," Spider-Man commented.

"So does this mean we can go? No hard feelings?" Mega Man asked.

"So long as you don't come back here, I'll be just fine," the woman said. Batman then walked up to Mega Man and handed him a dart-gun.

"Hit the main plant with this. It will take care of the rest," he said quietly.

"Meet us at the Bat-cave," he then said as he and Batgirl left.

"Right," Mega Man said.

"What's the plan?" Spider-Man whispered.

"We'll take care of Ivy, and then get out of here," Mega Man replied. Meanwhile back outside.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave them in there with her?" Batgirl asked.

"They'll be able to handle her. They survived Bane, and we need to keep moving," Batman replied.

"So, why are we heading for the Bat-Cave again?" Batgirl asked as they got into the Bat-Mobile.

"We'll take the Bat-Boat to the island, and then send it back for them," Batman replied.

"Wouldn't it be a bit easy to spot us coming to the docks?" Batgirlasked as they drove off.

"I have another Bat-Cave on the island. I found it awhile ago, and I've been moving stuff there ever since," Batman replied. After a few minutes of driving, the small screen next to the wheel came on.

"Hey Bats, where was this Cave at again?" Spider-Man asked.

"You beat Ivy already?" Batgirl asked.

"Wasn't that hard, boy was she mad when Mega Man started blasting all of the plants, made her come out real quick, and that dart did the trick. She's tied up, and we got the phones there to work again, and called the police, so she's taken care of," Spider-Man replied.

"Head to the docks, and wait there, I'll send the Bat-boat to you," Batman replied.

"Got it. Over and out," Mega Man said.

"Once you get inside the Bat-boat, activate the autopilot, it will guide you to the location of the Bat-Cave," Batman said before he turned off the screen. Mega Man and Spider-Man soon reached the docks.

"So, what is Arkham island?" Mega Man asked.

"From what I heard, it's an island that was built to reduce inmate breakouts. So far, it's been doing a fairly good job, just that some of the inmates haven't exactly been put into it," Spider-Man replied.

"And Joker is making a move on this place?"

"I did hear a rumor that a project that is similar to the one that made Captain America was being conducted at some kind of facility, what kind I don't know. One other thing I heard from Batman one time, is that Bane was subjected to a test that involved a certain kind of venom, the stuff that makes him huge. I have a feeling that may be the stuff, but I could be way off target."

"So, this stuff is pretty much a super soldier serum?"

"That's what the stuff that made Captain America was called. That project was called "Rebirth", while I heard there is a project called "Titan" being developed, and I have a sneaky feeling someone thinks they can use Bane's stuff."

"Wouldn't that start to affect you after awhile? Sounds like drug use."

"Probably, but Captain America's is permanent, he doesn't need a device to use it."

"So why would anyone try and alter Bane's venom? Or is that why? So it won't have to be kept on being pumped into you?"

"That would be scary! I mean, Bane is already huge as you saw, that stuff would make a normal human turn into his size!"

"And an uncontrolled amount would make them bigger, if not make something really alter their appearance, I could have sworn something inside Bane was about to pop out when he turned the stuff on!"

"This trip into Arkham is going to be a bit tough." And at that moment, the Bat-Boat pulled up.

"About time," Mega Man said as the hatch opened, and they quickly got in.

"Time to set out for the Bat-Cave!" Spider-Man said as he pressed the auto-pilot button, and the Bat-Boat took off.

"I wonder where the Bat-cave is?" Mega Man asked.

"Not exactly sure, but I kind of wished Batman told us why, you would think going to the Bat-cave would be useless at a time like this," Spider-Man commented as the boat went underwater. After a little bit or so, they reached a side of what appeared to be a cliff, once the boat resurfaced.

"I think I see the entrance up there," Mega Man said as he pointed up while the hatch opened There was a slight ledge, which appeared to lead to a cave.

"I sure hope there are two ways to enter and leave," Spider-Man commented. With a little work and climbing, they reached the ledge, but there wasn't a cave entrance.

"Well, this sure isn't what I wanted to see," Mega Man commented, but then, there was a faint light flicker in the upper part of the wall ahead of them, and then a path opened.

"Wow, he sure knows how to hide stuff," Mega Man commented as they walked in. It was a sight to behold, the path looked a little bland at first, but it then entered a huge beautiful cavern as they came onto a metal walkway, and there was a thin waterfall they had to walk through, and they soon reached where all of Batman's stuff was at.

"Well, I gotta say, you sure have a lot of stuff here. So, has Joker taken control of this place?" Spider-Man asked.

"Yes. He had his men captured, and while we were all busy, he had himself caught, and then he got free, just as he entered the place, he has taken control of the island, within a matter of minutes!" Batgirl replied.

"Do they know we're here?" Mega Man asked.

"No, we got in the same way you did, they probably think we're still out in the mainland, but they probably are expecting us to show up sometime soon," Batman replied.

"So, what's the game plan?" Spider-Man asked.

"We'll head to the medical facility first, they may have Robin there," Batman replied. They then left in another direction, and soon entered the sewer area.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone stationed here, I think we'll get inside without too much trouble," Batgirlsaid. They soon reached the surface, and the place looked massive; watchtowers, small buildings, huge buildings, and massive walls that split the areas up.

"Well, this place sure is big, and I think I see goons patrolling around," Mega Man commented.

"And there are armed ones in the watchtowers, this will be tricky," Mega Man commented.

"I will take care of that tower, you take care of that one," Spider-Man said to Batman. As they moved through the shadows, Joker's voice then sounded over the speakers.

"Greetings, fellow inmates, Joker here. _I _am now in charge of Arkham island, and as we all know, we'll run things our way, and no one should be able to get to us here, but keep your eyes and ears open, 'cause a few bats might have flown in!" he said. Spider-Man then climbed over the railing, and grabbed the goon from behind, and knocked him out. Batman had ahold of the ledge near the other goon, and once he was close enough to the railing that Batman was under, Batman climbed up slightly, and grabbed him by his shoulder, and pulled him forward, and slammed his head against the railing, knocking him out. And, before anyone else knew it, Mega Man had gotten into the midst of the goons, and they were about to swarm him, but he quickly took them out, one after the other, with almost no pauses.

"That takes care of those guys. That was pretty simple," he commented.

"You've never used stealth before, have you?" Batman asked.

"Well, I haven't been able to until now. But perhaps you can give me a few pointers?" Mega Man asked.

"We'll see how things are in the hospital, if there are guards there, and a slight hostage situation, don't go running up to them follow our lead," Batman replied as he handed Mega Man a Bat-grapple. They soon entered the hospital, and things seemed quiet, but they could tell people were around. Good or bad, that couldn't be said, but Mega Man followed Batman and Batgirl to the upper rafters with the grapple he was given, while Spider-Man quickly scaled the walls. There were armed men, and a few medical staff.

"Hey boys, it would seem that the there's a Bat on the premises. It might be a good idea to make sure it doesn't get back to the mainland," Joker's voice said over the radio.

"What an oddball," Mega Man said under his breath. They moved themselves along without getting anyone's attention, as they wanted to give themselves a good idea of the layout of the room. There were a few different higher and lower areas where the guys with the guns were going around, it was going to be a bit tricky. One guy then got himself separated from the others, and Spider-Man quickly got him with a strand of webbing, and yanked him into the air before he could make a sound. After a few minutes, Mega Man went into the shadows, and grabbed one of the guys as he walked by, and cracked him one in the back of the head, and left him there. After a few minutes or so, one of the other guys came up.

"Hey, I found someone, over here!" and with that, those who were left quickly came over.

"What do we do?"

"Leave him here, and find that Bat!" And with that, they quickly went about the room in a tight group, but one separated himself from the others, and Batman came down, while hanging upside down, grabbed him, zipped back up with him, and quickly tied his feet together with cable, and then let him drop and dangle upside down, while screaming. The guards were really starting to lose it, and the last guy began to aim around like mad, he was really getting nervous. Mega Man then stood right behind him, and the guy nearly backed into him, and then he turned around, and freaked at the sight of him! Before he could do anything else, Mega Man yanked the gun out of his hands, and then socked him one right in the face, the goons were all down for the count.

End Chapter 18


	19. The Joker’s last hand

Important notice! If you haven't played Batman, Arkham Asylum, and plan to, or haven't beaten it, and don't want anything spoiled for you, don't read this chapter yet! I borrowed a few plot elements for this one.

Also, this chapter really gets violent towards the end, so most definently don't read it if you don't like blood and a bit of major violence, and also,

**don't let any toddlers or Children read this one. You've been warned. So don't come crying to me if you read it, or let your children read it. Or at least don't let them read to a certain point, so let your parent read through it first, and let them tell you when it's safe to read to, and then have them skip the real nasty part for you.**

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 19

The Joker's last hand

After the last goon was taken care of, our heroes went over to the doctors who had been captured, and freed them.

"Are you guys ok?" Mega Man asked.

"For the most part, but you guys have to find doctor Young!" one of the doctors replied.

"Dr. Young?" Spider-Man asked.

"Dr. Penelope Young if you want to be more precise, I don't know why, but the Joker seems to be after her," another Doctor replied.

"Don't worry, we'll find her," Batman replied.

"Batgirl, you get these people to a safe place," he then ordered.

"Where should I take them?" Batgirl asked.

"The Arkham Mansion should still be safe, there are a few good places to hide there," a female doctor replied.

"Sound like a plan, where did Dr. Young go?" Mega Man asked.

"She went into one of the medical areas, I don't know which one," another doctor replied.

"We'll find her, you take care of these people, Batgirl," Batman said.

"I will, come on," Batgirl called as she led the doctors out. Mega Man, Spider-Man, and Batman quickly went to the lower area of the room, and went to a pair of double doors, and opened them, and walked into a narrow hallway, which was filled with many health contraptions and the like. One thing they noticed was that there were three lines on the floor. Each one a different color, and they went the same direction for awhile, until it came to a split. Two of the lines went to their left, up another hallway, while the other kept on going straight ahead, and then went right.

"You two take the left path, I'll take this one," Batman said as he kept on going straight. They did what he said, and followed the two lines, down a hallway that went up, and went left, and then right, and to another split area, this time going left or right.

"Well, I guess this is where we part ways," Mega Man said.

"It isn't that big of a hospital, so it's not like we won't see each other for awhile. But still, watch yourself," Spider-Man said before Mega Man took the left path, while Spider-Man took the right. Meanwhile, Batman had reached his destination, and could hear voices in the small square room ahead of him.

"Why are you holding me here? Did the Joker asked for me specifically?" a woman asked.

"I don't get paid to ask questions lady, I just do my job," a male voice said.

"Well, I'm sure I can pay double what your boss is paying."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll get in big trouble for crossing the boss, and I'm sure not a single one of us want to do that either."

"Got that right."

"No way am I gonna get on the boss' bad side."

"Well, I'm sure we'll get her money once the boss is done with her."

"You got that right, so we'll get your money either way," about four guys replied. Batman figured he'd best check every bit of the area out, as the guys are probably armed with guns, and one false move might cost the woman her life. He had the plan this carefully. The room they were in was square-shaped from what he could tell, and the woman sounded like she was in a corner, while the four men sounded like they were standing next to the walls, two on each. Batman then carefully checked the walls, and the seemed to be very weak, and were about where the men were last heard. He then planted an explosive on each wall, near where he last heard voices, and backed up a bit, and then quickly detonated the explosives, and he heard the men yell in shock, before making sounds of getting hit, as they got clobbered by the flying rubble. He also heard the woman scream from shock, but it didn't sound like she was injured during that. He then walked through the dust cloud as it slowly cleared, and saw all four goons knocked out, and the woman slightly sitting on the floor in the only real corner in the room now, her arms held out to the sides, and she was pressing herself into the corner, she was clearly afraid.

"Dr. Penelope Young?" Batman asked as he loomed over her.

"Bat…..man?" she asked.

"Don't worry, you're safe," Batman replied.

"……….."

"It's alright, you can trust me, I'm here to stop the Joker."

"………he's been trying to extract information out of Robin, by using all sorts of means of torture………I managed to slow the process…..as I found Robin quite by accident……the Joker…..and many others were somehow…..hiding here….."

"How did you slow the process of torture?"

"………I gave him a few things to help him endure the pain….and once we realized all means of communications with the outside world were being……monitored, and altered, to make it sound like things have been going alright for the past few days……we couldn't reach you………"

"Is that the reason why the Joker is after you?"

"Not exactly…………I was working on a project with many others, but I wasn't told the details on what I was exactly working on……..but I thought I was working on something that would help our patients feel less pain……..the ones who are so crazy, they can hurt themselves……but no……I realized too late, that I was working on a formula based on Bane's serum, one that just needed to be injected, or drank, or drenched in, to make it work."

"He intends to make an army of Banes?"

"But, I saw one of the tests, luckily no one knew I had witnessed it. It was used on someone sane like you or me, someone who had understanding, who really had control of themselves and what they do. But…..once he was injected with the stuff…..his sanity went away, he became an insane beast. We locked him up in a special holding cell, and after a few hours or so, the affects of the serum went away, and he was back to his normal self."

"If Joker were to inject a good number of people…..they would tear apart Gotham within hours. That's all he needs."

"But, he can't do that yet, because we got rid of the Titan serum, as that is what we called the project, but he can recreate it, if he gets a hold of the formula."

"Where is it kept?"

"In the mansion, I put in my files once I learned what was going on, and took it upon myself to get rid of it, but….with things the way they have been for the last few days, I haven't been able to get into the mansion, and into my files. And I know he hasn't been able to get in there, or else there'd be those Bane-like monsters running around."

"Or he would be gloating about it over the intercom."

"You're right, he probably would be, take me to the mansion, and I'll get the formula, and then we'll destroy it."

"Batgirl was on her way to the mansion already, she may be there soon, I'll contact her once we get you out." And with that, Batman started to lead Dr. Young out. After a little bit, they soon neared the split area, and then there was a loud *CRACK* and a guy holding knives, dressed in red, smacked face first into the wall, which was now on their left, and stayed there for a bit, and soon slid down slowly. Batman glanced back, and could see the Dr. Young was almost frozen with fear. After a second or two, Mega Man came out of the hallway where the guy flew out of.

"That's what you get for jumping out of a huge present box and attacking me with knives!" he scolded. Spider-Man then came up from behind.

"Wow, that was a hard punch," he commented.

"The guy should have stayed in his box," Mega Man said before he noticed Batman.

"I see you found Dr. Young, all I found was an angry mob," he said.

"Same here, and boy you should have seen Joker's face when he saw it wasn't you who beat his men," Spider-Man added as he pointed at Batman.

"We'd best get out of here, before he sends more men," Batman said.

"You're right, the last thing we need is to have the entrance blocked off," Mega Man agreed.

"Come on Penelope, we need to get moving. So relax, and take a few deep breaths," Spider-Man said as they led her out. They soon opened the doors which led to the central area they came in, and they heard the sound of someone else entering, and they quickly hid in one of the smaller side rooms which were nearby.

"Getting out may take too long, I'll contact her now," Batman said as he pulled out a small communicator that had some buttons, and a small bluish screen. Elsewhere, in the Arkham Mansion, Batgirl had lowered the last doctor down to the floor, as she had to take them in through a vent above the doorway, as there was an electric security gate blocking the entryway just past beyond the door in the mansion. The room had two sets of stairs on the sides of the room, going up one level. And there were a few desks, and a whole lot of papers scattered about, someone had ransacked the room. Batgirl was about to leave the way she came, when the communicator in her belt started to go off.

"Batman?" she asked as she pulled it out and the screen turned on, and it showed Batman, and a little bit of his surroundings.

"Batgirl, it looks like the Titan project was being conducted here, and the formula for the project is being kept in the mansion. Find the formula, and destroy it, or else Joker will find it, and we'll have a few more Banes to deal with," Batman said.

"A few _more_ Banes? Oh great, one was enough, the last thing Gotham needs are a few powerful guys smashing everthing in sight. Those guy could demolish the city with ease in a few hours if there are a good number of them!" Batgirl exclaimed.

"We might not get out of here in time, you must find the formula and destroy it," Mega Man's voice said from off the screen before it went off. And with that, Batgirl quickly left from the overhang where the vent was, and glided down to the tall door across from her. She landed softly, and went and grabbed the door handle, and gave it a quick turn and push, but it didn't budge. She tried pulling it open, but that didn't work either.

"The door isn't locked…….something is on the other side," Batgirl commented. She then found another ventilation shaft she could enter, which was above the door in front of her. After getting it open, she knew the doctors would be safe in this room, what with the entrance locked and this door blocked by something. She was soon in a very huge room, it went into an area where it spread out, but the area right in front of her was a mess, as papers were scattered about, and the guys who made the mess, were still making a mess.

"What are we even looking for?"

"We're looking for the Titan formula, it should be clearly marked."

"But we've searched for hours, it doesn't appear to be in here!"

"Well it's gotta be here somewhere, it can't be anywhere else," some of the men said to each other, while the others flung papers everywhere frantically, and there were tables and chairs piled against the door leading into the room, which explained why it wouldn't open. Batgirl looked about the room, if she tried to head to the other areas, she would be spotted and gunned down within seconds, as some of the men had guns. She had to plan this attack very carefully. Back at the hospital, Mega Man had the last goon on the ropes, or rather by the neck, holding him at bay.

"Alright you scum, tell us where Joker and Robin are, or I'll make you pay," Mega Man said darkly.

"But he'll kill me for telling!" the man protested.

"If you don't tell me, I'll kill you myself, for taking such an oath! But, if you tell us, you'll live, and the Joker will be the one to die. Do I make myself clear?" Mega Man asked.

"Um, isn't that a little harsh?" Spider-Man asked.

"If we don't stop Joker now, many others will die. Is it worth letting him live, at the expense of the innocents he kills?" Mega Man asked. There was a long silence, no one ever thought of it that way before. They were so worried really, about becoming like those they fought against really, about taking lives…

"So long as you know, what will happen if you continue to let a certain live, you'll know what will have to be done sooner or later, and I think that time has finally arrived," Mega Man added.

"………the Joker is in the Penitentiary," the thug said.

"Is that where all the _really_ insane inmates are?" Spider-Man asked.

"You mean the ones that would be really a danger anywhere else? Yes," Batman replied.

"That place is a perfect place to trap you! Don't you realize that?" Dr. Young asked.

"Yes, but we got no choice," Batman replied.

"For your sake pal, you'd better not have been lying about his location, or else I'll hunt you down myself," Mega Man warned.

"That was where I last heard he was, but even if you don't find him, you'll find Robin there, he's been trying to make him tell who you really are Bats, and Joker is probably just about close to having him spill everything," the thug said. Mega Man then walloped the thug right in the face, knocking him out. A few minutes later, they were out of the hospital.

"I'll get Dr. Young over to the mansion, you two head on over to the Penitentiary," Spider-Man said as he put an arm around Dr. Young's waist and quickly swung off on a strand of webbing.

"About what you said before, Mega Man…" Batman started.

"Did I really mean what I said? Well it was no bluff Batman," Mega Man replied.

"You're really going to kill the Joker?"

"Let me ask you this Batman, because I haven't been here for very long. How long have you been fighting the Joker? How many times have you put him away?"

"Years, and I've put him away countless times."Exactly my point Batman. And if this place is supposed to try and make people sane again, and I most defiantly assume that some of them aren't smart enough to escape, and some of them probably are cured of their insanity, why hasn't the Joker been cured?"

"…………."

"Because no has been able to have time with him? I doubt it. Some, if not most people has already tried. He doesn't want to be cured, because he can't be cured, he never could."

"Are you sure you've never been here before?"

"One thing I learned recently Batman, is that if you don't stop those who don't want to be saved, you'll end up regretting it. Like now for example."

"…I guess I had it coming."

"It isn't exactly your fault, he chose this life, you didn't pick it for him, he brought this upon himself, and it's time we end him for good, before anyone else gets hurt. His evil ends tonight, one way or another, it ends, and I don't entirely care who finishes him off, so long as he won't harm anyone ever again." And not another word was said as they made their way to the Penitentiary, and they didn't come across anyone along the way. At least, not anyone they couldn't avoid, they were saving their strength. They soon reached the Penitentiary, and Mega Man kicked the doors open.

"Mega Man, I think you should calm down, if there is anyone who should be mad, it should be me, but you seem to be taking this a lot more than any of us. Why?" Batman asked. Mega Man was silent for a bit, and then his head lowered.

"I really haven't been myself. I have some kind of darkness within me, and it feeds off of my anger, and hatred, and when I get upset, my anger doubles, it's trying to take over. It's gone for now, but I have to find some sort of way to get rid of it," Mega Man replied.

"You're partially possessed?"

"It's a long story, but yeah, I guess I am."

"Do you think you should be fighting?"

"I have to stop the Destiny of Destruction, I won't abandon my task, and I have promises to keep." And with that, the subject was closed. The place had a very creepy feel to it, mostly because they had entered the area where the inmates were kept, and they were indeed insane. They didn't even seem human, their cells lined the walls, which had hard steel doors, but their yells and wails could be heard, and their banging around within the cells was unnerving, and the ones in the middle area, which really seemed like cages they were in, they were really wild. They ran about their cells, sometimes they clung to the bars like monkeys, and some of them, just simply seemed like they didn't have a care in the world, as they just sat in the middle of the cell, but still they mumbled strangely.

"The people in here………don't seem human……..they're like wild animals," Mega Man stated.

"Some people just lose their sanity, I don't how, but they do," Batman said. Mega Man could hardly believe the sounds being made were coming from them, they sounded so inhuman, sounds he never thought a human could even make. Something then started to stir within his memory, and he knew he had to get out of that area, so he quickly ran to the next area, where there was silence, with Batman in tow, wondering why he suddenly started running.

"Are you ok? You probably couldn't take all that, could you?" Batman asked.

"Not exactly…….my memories…….." Mega Man tried to reply, but then fell to his knees as his head began to hurt. Memories of his past on the Moon Kingdom began to play, he had seen the insane people before, and the dark being that was controlling them, but he then recalled an insane looking woman, who's face looked somewhat demonic, and there was one person she killed, that made anger well up within him for some reason. But the memories then ended just about as quick as they came.

"What happened? You said something about your memories," Batman said.

"My memories of my very distant past have slowly been returning, I didn't get much that time at all," Mega Man replied. There wasn't much else to be said, and after a few minutes, they soon reached an area where they figured Robin would be kept. However, at that moment, Batman's communicator went off.

"What it is?" he asked as he pulled it out, and Spider-Man was on the screen.

"Well Bats, good news and bad news. We got to where Dr. Young kept her copy of the formula, and destroyed it. But now the bad news maybe, we found out that someone made a copy of it, and hid it in the Warden's safe," Spider-Man replied.

"And perhaps the upside to that bad news, is that the Joker hasn't gotten a hold of it already," Batman said.

"Pretty much. Dr. Young is already trying to open the safe, and so far she seems to be doing ok," Spider-Man commented. But then at that moment, there was a click, and the sound of the safe opening, but then there was the sound of a party horn being blow.

"What the heck?" Spider-Man asked as he looked in the direction of the sound, while Batgirl yelled "Look out!" a few seconds before there was an explosion, which made the screen go static. Mega Man didn't look at all happy when he heard what was going on, both he and Batman knew Joker now had the formula, and they were too far away to do anything, all they could do was hope for the best. And one thing was now firm in Batman's mind now, is that Mega Man was right, if he had stopped Joker permanently in the past, they wouldn't be in this situation. They soon opened a fairly high-tech door, and entered a room where there were many thugs, there were three floor areas. Two were higher than the one in front of them, and had railings to separate them.

"I'll give you guys one warning, clear out now, or you'll regret fighting us!" Mega Man warned, but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Awhile later, back at the mansion, Spider-Man had awoken with his ears ringing a little.

"Uhhhh…..my Spider-Sense must have had an off day, normally I would have known that was coming, and it nearly killed us," Spider-Man said while Batgirl helped Dr. Young up.

"This is bad, the Joker is probably already working on making the serum," Batgirl said.

"He may already have finished, all he needs are test subjects, which there are plenty of!" Dr. Young exclaimed.

"All he really needs to do is unleash them onto the city, and that will be the end of Gotham, we need to finish this, _now!_" Spider-Man exclaimed as he smacked his left fist into his right hand.

"By the way, do you have a spare communicator? We need to check in with Bats and Mega," he added."Yeah, I do have a spare," Batgirl said as she pulled one out.

"Batman? Are you there?" she asked.

"Good to hear you're ok, we found Robin," Batman replied.

"You found him? Is he ok?" Batgirl asked.

"He's a bit shaken up, we just left him in the Bat-cave, so he'll be alright, once he has some rest, he did take a long bit of torture. But his will was strong enough to last long enough for us to save him, our identities are still safe," Batman replied.

"Oh thank heaven, where are you guys heading?" Batgirl asked.

"We're heading for the Intensive Treatment building, there are fireworks going off over there. Also, I managed to create an antidote for the Titan serum, because I managed to hack into the system and get the data while they were making the serum," Batman replied.

"So, we should be ready for whatever Joker has planned," Mega Man said before they shut the screen off. They soon arrived at the Intensive Treatment building, and entered a long hallway, opened the door at the far end, and they entered a bit of darkness for a bit, and soon reached a dim lit area. It was very huge, and seemed very empty, except there was a high elevated area, where the Joker was sitting.

"Well Bats, you arrived just in time, to witness my greatest victory!" Joker said as he stood up.

"You haven't won yet Joker, this ends tonight," Batman said.

"Quite true Bats, but you did show up a bit sooner then I expected, but that doesn't really matter anymore," Joker said as two huge, inhuman looking creatures tried to charge Batman and Mega Man, but they were stopped by the chains tied around their necks. They were humanoid, but they looked so deranged, and wild, their eyes had a weird green glow to them, and they had a few bits of sharp looking bone sticking out here and there, not a lot, but it was noticeable.

"So, you think that just because you have huge pets willing to destroy everything, you have a chance at victory?" Mega Man asked.

"Well, if it isn't a new face. Doesn't seem much like a bat, or a bird. Say wait a minute, aren't you that new guy who came from space? Well, what luck to be able to finish you off before you even amount to anything," Joker commented with a dark chuckle.

"You won't be laughing when we're done with you. You won't even be able to laugh," Mega Man stated as he pointed at Joker.

"Oh, 'cause I suppose you're gonna rip out my tongue?" Joker asked sarcastically.

"You'd still be able to hurt people that way. We're gonna put you down permanently!" Batman replied.

"Oh really? If you had the guts for that kind of fun, you'd have done it years ago!" Joker stated.

"We're not doing this for fun, Joker, we're doing it because we have to. We've given all the chances you needed, and now you've run out," Mega Man replied.

"Well, then I guess there is nothing left to be said, go get him boys!" Joker said as he pressed a button which exploded the chains where they were connected to the wall, and the two monsters were free, and many thugs entered the room.

"This will be a fight-night to remember!" Joker said before he laughed insanely. The two monsters stayed back, while the thugs went at them first. One threw a right hook at Batman, but he grabbed his arm, and then socked him in the face, while Mega Man roundhouse kicked one before he could do anything. Mega Man then fought his way into the crowd, while Batman stayed at the edge, and he soon saw one of the creatures getting ready to charge at them.

"Look out!" Batman called as he tossed a batarang, just as the creature started to run at Mega Man, and got him right in the face, and he covered it in pain, while still running! Mega Man then leaped over a bunch of the thugs, getting out of the way, while many of them were toppled over by the creature as it ran, and it smashed face first into a wall, knocking it senseless for a bit. Mega Man dealt with the other one as best he could, as one hit sent him back a bit, as it didn't react to his hits very much. Batman ran over to the one that was in a daze, with a good number of thugs after him, and he leaped on its back, wrapped his arms around its neck tightly, and it quickly rose up and swung its arms around like mad, while taking steps forward! This took many of them by surprise, as Batman didn't need to do much to steer him in the right directions, as he clobbered most of them with the first swing. Batman soon had to get off, as the creature then got wise, and tried to grab him, but Batman flipped off, and quickly countered a kick from another thug. Mega Man managed to get onto the creature, and made him charge right into the other, right clear out of the room, making a huge pile of rubble, burying all three of them!

"Mega Man!" Batman exclaimed, but there was silence.

"Well bravo Bats! You managed to survive the whole thing, and took out two of my test subjects! Oh well, at least it took that blue-boy with them, but I guess you deserve a prize," Joker said as he made a hand gesture, and Commissioner Gordon was lowered down by a rope, tied in a chair.

"We captured him just awhile ago, oh well, but I'm not letting you off that easy!" Joker said as he pulled out a gun and quickly fired at Gordon.

"No!" Batman exclaimed as he intercepted the shot, but he was shocked it didn't hurt very much. And he soon realized why, he was hit with a dart, a dart filled with the serum no less. All too soon he felt a change going on inside him, his muscles moved funny, his body trembled at the force trying to build up within him. But, by his strong will, not to be taken over by the serum, he was managing to keep it under control, although it hurt greatly and he fell to his hands and knees.

"You're fighting the change! Well, we can't have that now can we?" Joker asked as he leaped down from his seat, and walked over to Batman.

"Come on change! Become scary! Let it all out! Have some laughs for once!" he taunted, but Batman socked him in the face, still keeping his true self.

"I've never seen you put up such a fight before!" Joker said as he rubbed his chin, and then pulled out a feather, and tried to tickle Batman's face, which he did for a little, saying "Tickle tickle tickle!" in the process, but Batman hit him even harder.

"Oh you're spoiling everything! I planned this thing for months, and I came so close to having you see the world the way I see it, and you deny me even that!" Joker complained as he walked away before stopping and turned back around to look at Batman.

"So I nothing else left to live for," he added rather darkly as he put the gun under his jaw, and fired a dart right into himself. Awhile later, a news helicopter was flying over Arkham Island, circling the Penitentiary. And on the ground, Spider-Man and Batgirl were wondering what was going on.

"What's going no up there?" Batgirl asked.

"Something bad probably, it looks like an arena up there," Spider-Man replied.

"Well then come on, they probably need us!" Batgirl said as she went ahead, while Spider-Man quickly shot a web strand at the roof, so he could get up there quickly. And the roof area was set up like a huge arena, like a huge cage match, with electric borders. The area where you can get onto the roof, was the only real area without electricity, and it was wide, and Commissioner Gordon was tied to a chair on what would be the left side of the roof entrance when looking at it. The upper part of the fence that made the area seem like an arena, was lined with barbed wire, and the news helicopter was circling around the building. Soon, the Joker stepped out, and he had mutated far worse than the others, his hair turned into a Mohawk style, and his fingers became like claws, and some of his ribs stuck out! And his head was even more pointed, and he had Batman in his hand.

"You know Bats, we've been doing this run around of ours for years! It's been loads of laughs, but the sad fact is, none of us are getting any younger," Joker said, as Batman kept himself from turning.

"And I got to thinking, it may have been about time to do something bigger, and end it all with a bang! So this is our final battle, one of us won't be walking away from this one, and what we do we can do without ever having to worry about each other getting in our way, because the other will be dead! So if you want to save Gordon, and still fight for your Justice, you'd better change! It's the only way to beat me, you know you want to," Joker said darkly. Batman then reached for his belt, and pulled out his Titan antidote, and injected himself with it.

"You used the antidote on yourself? Now _that's_ funny!" Joker said as he tossed Batman, who quickly recovered by rolling onto the ground, and into a crouching position. Spider-Man then leaped over the fence, and bounced off of the back of Joker's neck, making him stumble forward a little.

"I figured if anyone was going to come out of that bomb trap in one piece, it would be you. So, you're here to settle something? Last time I checked, you had beaten me last time we met, but I guess this saves me the trouble of coming after you," Joker commented.

"I'm here to do what I should have done to you when I had the chance, and I won't hold back! Not for freaks like you, who have forsaken their humanity!" Spider-Man stated.

"Humanity huh? Can you tell me what you think humanity is?" Joker asked.

"Don't play mind games," Mega Man said as he walked out of the entrance.

"Humanity is something, that is in all living things, humans, or human-like creatures. Humanity, is when you live by the laws of nature, and the laws given by the one true God, not the lesser ones. True, we may be fighting, but we don't harm innocent people for fun, we don't fight just for the heck of it, and we don't kill for the joy of killing, we fight people and creatures likes you, who hurt and kill people for fun, and who think they can rule the world with fear and terror! An evil empire, created by power and might will fall to ruin! People can not be ruled by power alone! The sacred, the honorable, the loved, these things can rule humanity. Something evil like you, will eventually fall to ruin!" Mega Man exclaimed.

"Did you rehearse that or what?" Joker asked.

"I didn't expect you to understand, because all you know and understand is killing and destroying peoples lives!" Mega Man yelled as he rammed a fist into Joker's chest, sending him skidding back. Joker then turned right around, and swung hard at Batman and Spider-Man, and they just barely dove out of the way. Spider-Man then quickly went on the offensive, and hit Joker with a right hook, a left jab to the stomach, an upward kick to the chin, a right elbow to the side of the face, and did a slight leap, and finished with a drop kick to the top of the head. Spider-Man then quickly had to take a few leaps back as Joker then quickly swiped at him, just barely missing him, as his nails were really long, and just missed by inches each time. After one swing, Batman then quickly hit Joker in the side of the face with a left hook, and then Batman had to roll out of the way an run, as he didn't have the same oomph as Spider-Man, as Joker didn't reel back when Batman hit him. Mega Man then shot Joker with three regular shots in rapid fire, and then charged up for thirty seconds and fired a slightly big blue shot, which made Joker stumble a little. Joker then lunged at Mega Man to try and impale him with his nails, but Mega Man slid under him, and Joker got his nails stuck in the ground, which left him open to attack, and Batman took the opportunity. Batman got him in the face with both hooks, and then propelled himself into the air by jumping off of Joker's head, and finished with a double hammer fist to the top of the head. Joker was clearly getting angry as he ripped his nails out and nearly got Batman in the process, although he did smack Batman aside, but not really inflicting a lot of damage, because it was with the side of his hand, not his nails.

"UGH!" Batman moaned as he flew a little, but quickly recovered like before.

"You're wasting your time fools, nothing you do can beat me!" Joker exclaimed.

"Says you, we'll finish this!" Spider-Man exclaimed as he plowed a hard kick into Joker's back, and then Mega Man nailed him with an uppercut to the chin while Spider-Man dove out of the way, and Joker fell backwards onto the ground. Mega Man then leaped at Joker, to try and smash Joker's face in, but Joker smacked him aside. Spider-Man then landed on Joker's back, wrapped one arm around his neck, and then started beating it with his other fist. He landed about nine blows before he had to jump off, as Joker quickly tried to grab him, but missed just by hair, as he clipped his costume a little. No one noticed as they fought, but a storm was brewing in the distance, heading their way, building up thunder and lightning. They noticed that every once in awhile, Gordon would get an electric shock on occasion, because there were electrical instruments hooked up to his chair. They knew they had to get him down fast, but Joker wasn't going to give them much of a chance to do so. Joker then managed to grab Batman, and got ready to impale his face with his other hand, but Spider-Man quickly webbed the back of that hand, and yanked on it, making him hold his arm out straight, and Mega Man then sent a hard kick into the elbow, knocking Joker's arm out of place, making him scream in pain, and dropping Batman in the process. Joker then struck Mega Man hard, and sent him through the fence, ripping out a huge portion of it, big enough for Joker to fit through. Mega Man managed to hold onto one of the sides of the fence, so he didn't fall down all the way, but it was going to be hard to pull himself back up, as he was hanging onto the very end of the torn part of the fence, and it wasn't being very still. Batman and Spider-Man then noticed that the news helicopter left, as the storm had reached them now, and Gordon stood a very good chance of getting electrocuted.

"We need to get Gordon down!" Batman said.

"Yeah, but ol' ugly clown isn't going to give us the chance!" Spider-Man exclaimed.

"This is our final bout! The last laugh! The last hand of game! You think it's gonna be easy? HA HA HA HA HAAAAA! Mercy me no!" Joker said as he popped his arm back into place.

"If you really are gonna kill me, then start doing stuff that can!" he taunted, before Spider-Man hit him in the face with a hard roundhouse kick.

"Remember the old saying, careful you wish for!" Spider-Man said angrily.

"That's what I want to see!" Joker said before Batman hit him even harder than last time.

"We may be angry, but as Mega Man said, we're not going to forsaken our humanity, or sanity!" Batman stated.

"You know, why are you listening to him? He's some fly boy from space! He isn't some……some……" Joker tried to make a remark, but Spider-Man cut him short but hitting him in the face a bunch of times by alternating his hooks.

"You don't know him, you don't know what he told us, you don't know _anything_!" Spider-Man exclaimed before he really walloped Joker.

"Why am I even wasting my breath? You don't even care what we say, you only care about your own voice, your own jokes, the only thing you want from anyone, is insane laughter, nothing more!" Spider-Man added rather darkly.

"I must admit, maybe this isn't what I wanted out of you after all," Joker said.

"This is the same anger I was gonna use to kill you when I had you in my hands when I first visited Gotham, and you weren't afraid of it then, you tried to encourage it, push me over the deep end, you should remember that night, that was when Carnage tried to team up with you, but even though both of you were pretty crazy, you were different enough to not see eye to eye on things, such as how you kill people," Spider-Man replied.

"You always try to push people over the edge, make them think they'll go insane if they kill you, but you're wrong Joker, killing you put me at ease for the most part. There is still a job that needs to be done, even after you're gone, I'll never give up the fight, and no, I will not kill every foe I face, only ones similar to you, and ones that will not give up on their insane plans of world domination," Batman added.

"As you sadly know Joker, this isn't very laughable, fighting for Justice and Peace and humanity is no joke, neither is killing people," Spider-Man added.

"Shut up!" Joker yelled as he swung at them, but missed.

"You don't like anyone being serious, you hate everyone being serious, and yet, you don't like anyone trying to make jokes, instead of you," Batman added, and Joker was starting to lose his edge, as well as his awareness. His was getting so blind with rage, he didn't realize that Batman had led him into a slight trap, Joker then went to impale Batman, then Batman jumped, landed on Joker's arm, and then leaped off of it, which forced him arm to go into the ground, right where the electric current was going through, and gave him a real bad shock.

"EYEEEEE!" Joker screamed as electricity ran through his body, while Batman and Spider-Man watched, Batgirl finally arrived, and quickly went to help Gordon. She disabled the electric current, and quickly began to untie him. Joker at that point had recovered, and wasn't at all pleased, and Mega Man was finally about to rejoin the battle, after a bit of a long climb back up. The Joker then saw Batgirl trying to free Gordon, and didn't like this in the least, so he plowed past Batman and Spider-Man, knocking them both over, while he swiped at Batgirl, knocking her away, and there was a loud rip sound before she hit the ground a few times, facing away from everyone. Joker then noticed that he had her mask stuck on his long nails. Gordon saw this as well, and couldn't help but wonder even more now who Batgirl was, and he was shocked after she propped herself up and looked back at them.

"Barbara?" he asked.

"Hm, if Tim Drake is Robin, and Barbara is Batgirl, then Batman must be…." Joker paused.

"Bruce."

"Bruce?" Mega Man asked, but no one heard him, as he was still far away, and he said it quietly. There was a large sharp piece of metal near him, and he figured he'd probably need it.

"Well, that makes sense somewhat, you do have the funding to make all your stuff, and seeing as to how you've lost your parents at such a young age, and the fact that the law enforcements haven't exactly been able to do much about the crime here, you took it upon yourself to deal with it!" Joker said.

"Although I have to wonder where you got the idea to dress up like a bat, but I guess it doesn't really matter, since it seems in reality, under all the dark emotions, and batarangs, and all the intelligence, you're nothing more than a little boy in a playsuit, crying for mommy and daddy! I'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetic," he added giving a rather disgusted look for a bit, before rolling his eyes.

"Oh what the heck, I'll laugh anyway. WAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA!" he laughed insanely, and that did it, that laughter reminded Mega Man of the laughing years ago, all the insanity around him, the way the people were corrupted by darkness of their own desires and hatred for another race, it sickened him. This man wasn't human, not anymore, he is just some insane creature, that finds joy and content out of everyone's suffering. Laughing at someone's pain, was something Mega Man would not stand for, not a pain so traumatic. Joker didn't realize it until it was too late, or rather after the fact, Mega Man had slashed though his stomach area really hard and fast, and soon struck hard again through part of his rib cage, and each blow drew massive amounts of blood, and Mega Man had a look of major anger, almost insanity.

"You…..Miserable…insane…..laughing…..FREAK!" Mega Man yelled with each blow. Joker then managed to knock Mega Man away and Batman had all he was gonna take from Joker, he took up a long metal rod that was broken at the end, making that end like a spear. Batman walked up to Joker, who was gasping for air, as Mega Man's slashing him left him breathless, and Batman struck him hard in the face, that it sounded like something broke. He then stuck him in the ribs, just when lighting flashed, and it flashed at every other blow struck. After one hard upper swing to the jaw, which floored Joker, but he was still alive, Batman then stood on him, and impaled the rob into his chest. Batman then leaped back as Joker swiped at him, but he was still on the ground, and tried to get up, but, because the rod was the highest metal part in the area, besides the fence, lightning then struck it, and Joker screamed in total agony, before the lightning stopped, as well as his life. Batman was taking huge breaths, in and out as he could now be at ease really, as the Joker was one of his most deadliest of enemies, and now he was gone for good. Spider-Man and Mega Man helped Gordon down, and he couldn't help but look at Barbara, and soon went to Batman. "Yes Jim, it's true, I am Bruce Wayne," Batman said.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way," Gordon said.

"So am I, but he chose this life, no one chose it for him, and we gave him all the chances he needed to mend his ways. But….he enjoyed being insane too much to let go," Batman said. It was unnerving for them to look at Joker's dead, mutated carcass on the ground, but still, what else could have been done? The hours rolled by, and Batman, Spider-Man, and Mega Man, were at Wayne mansion. The stormed still rolled on outside, but things seemed so quite now…strangely at ease.

"Well, I must say, as much as I'd hate to say it, I'm rather glad he's gone, what with all the trouble he's caused, all the lives he's ruined. If he was much older, I'd say he was the one killed your parents, but that is a bit much," Alfred, Batman's butler said.

"Believe me Alfred, I wish I didn't have to kill him, but there was no other option, Mega Man helped me see that," Batman stated as he looked out the window, which over looked the city.

"Well I thank Heaven that you were able to stop him when you did master Bruce, or else all of Gotham would have been in ruins," Alfred said.

"Well guys, this victory, if you could call it that, is one that proves one thing. We are able to work together," Mega Man said.

"Well, Joker did knock you around a bit more than us, but yeah, we did cover each others backs pretty well for that, and we strategize well, as for who should go with who and where, we watched each others back fairly well, I think with a little work, we might be the best team out there," Spider-Man said.

"Mega Man, you mentioned the Destiny of Destruction before, but I can't recall all that you said. Care to refresh my memory?" Batman asked.

"From all I heard, the Destiny of Destruction is an event in which almost all life ends. And I have to work together with others, to set into motion the events to stop it. And mind you, I was told I would be long gone before the events that revolve around it fully start. So that means you will probably be gone as well. I'm not entirely sure what the events are we are supposed to set into motion, but I have a feeling we'll figure it out when the time comes. Or someone will tell us when the time comes, either way, we have a lot of work to do, and I know you guys are the ones I was supposed to find. Together, we can beat this, we can beat the Destiny of Destruction!" Mega Man replied.

"Well, you can sure count me in, I'm not stand by and let this happen!" Spider-Man said.

"With Joker out of the way, I have a feeling that crime will drop dramatically, so I'll work with you," Batman said. And with that, a new team, as well as a good friendship.

End Chapter 19


	20. Nights of the Ninjas part 1

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 20

Nights of the Ninjas

Part 1

It had been over a week since the Joker's death on Arkham island. If he had died any other way, the people probably would have been terrified. But, when they saw his horrible mutated body, they understood it had to be done. They would have been more terrified if he had stormed down the streets like that. With the death of the Joker, a huge sigh of relief swept over Gotham, as one of it's most insane inhabitants, was now gone, although not from their memories for now. With the death of the Joker, a good amount of crime went down. Even the police were able to stop various crimes now, cause the criminals were so scared, they took too long to do their crimes. With the crime spree gone down so much, the people were actually able to work on cleaning the city, slowly turning it back into the beautiful city it once was.

Although Gotham was now at peace, crime escalated elsewhere. Not because the Joker was gone, a certain group that had been around in New York for awhile, had started up it's activities again, and was increasing their number. So much so, that some of them didn't quite know how to keep their…activities quiet, like the main group did. At the police department, a woman known as Elisa Maza, a second-class detective in the NYPD, was in a rather cranky mood. Not super cranky, but still, she was a little flustered right now. She was an attractive woman, with long black hair, dark brown eyes, wore a red jacket, and a black shirt underneath, blue jeans, and black shoes. It didn't take long for one of her fellow officers to notice she was in a slight bad mood, but mostly everyone had the same thing on their minds.

"The crime spree?" he asked rather casually.

"How'd you guess?" she asked in a rather bland sarcastic tone.

"It's been on everyone's mind. But it seems to bother you the most. How come?" he asked.

"Well, it's hard enough for us to catch unorganized criminals, and now these sprees are happening, and no one seems to be doing anything about it! Of course the fact we know next to nothing about why these guys are doing it, or who they are sort of adds to the tension," she replied.

"You're right, but we're no super heroes. As a matter of fact, I think they're too…" the officer was about to make a bit of a bad comment on the heroes, and he could tell by the look Elisa was giving him, she wasn't going to enjoy it.

"Uhhhh never mind," he finished by turning around and leaving quietly. With nothing really to report or file, or much of anything in the station, Elisa went out to try and see if she could do anything by patrolling. She went out onto the busy streets of New York, and it was almost sunset, and she put her hands in her jacket pockets as she started walking to her right.

'_The problem is that the heroes who would notice and take action of these happenings are all somewhere else. There are too many to name, but one who I really wouldn't mind doing something to help is Spider-Man, and he's still in Gotham I believe. I guess it's a bit much to hope that he brings Batman back with him. One thing we do know about these crimes is that they're being committed by the Purple Dragon gang,'_ she thought to herself as she walked. She paused to look up, just to see if she could spot Spider-Man swinging around, she at least wanted to know that he was back. And she got a better answer, a shadow quickly loomed over her, a shadow in the shape of a bat! It was Batman himself, he swung over her and many others, his shadow falling upon many buildings as he swung by, and soon went around a corner to the right. Many of the people were in shock and awe, mumbling to themselves, while a smile played on Elisa's face.

"Well, things are sure looking up," she said to herself. Batman swung past many buildings, the onlookers wondering where he was going. After a few minutes of swinging over many busy streets, Batman arrived on one rooftop, which was now going to be used as one of many contact points. Mega Man and Spider-Man arrived soon after.

"Things have been quiet on my end. What's your status?" Batman asked.

"Same here, things have been rather uneventful, except for the one small group of Purple Dragons that were going to mug someone," Mega Man replied.

"You call that uneventful?" Spider-Man asked.

"Well, ok, that wasn't exactly nothing, but I didn't learn anything from them, they were a rookie bunch," Mega Man replied.

"Oh. Well, what did you do with them afterward?" Spider-Man asked.

"I tossed them into a dumpster and made a personal delivery to the police. I could tell they weren't exactly happy with my choice of transportation for them, but it was all I had on hand at the moment, there were about ten of them," Mega Man replied.

"I doubt they're going to just give up on their operations, just because we're here," Batman said.

"Right, I have a feeling there is someone backing the Purple Dragons. They weren't this daring before," Spider-Man stated.

"I'm led to believe that there is another group involved, in charge of the Purple Dragons. But who?" Batman asked.

"Who do we know that would hire a gang of street punks?" Mega Man asked.

"I can only think of people who would hire more…decent mercenary types to get the jobs done, and throw the people off their trail," Spider-Man replied.

"And street gangs are out of the question?" Mega Man asked.

"Usually they would hire organized mobs, not some punks that hide in warehouses, abandoned buildings and such," Batman replied.

"Guys that would prefer fine wine over beer?" Mega Man asked.

"There are two types of gangs really. One is the Purple Dragon style, guys who would hang out at bars and such, where people aren't really what you would call "First Class"," Batman replied.

"And the others manage to hide in society, among the rich and famous, where men wear fancy suits, and women wear sparkling dresses. I get the idea now," Mega Man said.

"You've been to those?" Spider-Man asked.

"No, but I would like to. I haven't really done anything that would cause a huge party or nothing," Mega Man replied. Mega Man then noticed the slight glare Batman was starting to give them.

"Err getting back on track, let's review the Purple Dragons' patterns so far," Mega Man added.

"Right. So far from what we could tell from police reports, is that their targets have been getting bigger and bigger," Spider-Man said.

"Such as objects that could either be sold on the black-market, or used for development," Batman added.

"Hmmm, any ideas on what the next target maybe?" Mega Man asked.

"Money perhaps?" Spider-Man asked.

"Probably huge amounts," Batman replied.

"Any ideas where" Mega Man asked.

"Right now we're just guessing, we should go around the city, see what we can find," Spider-Man replied, and with that said, they quickly went about the city, trying to find any signs of the Purple Dragons. Right now they were the only link they had. After searching the city for awhile, the sun had set, and the moon was high, things were quiet. They met up again, and with nothing new to report.

"This method seems hopeless, we could be miles away from whatever their next target is," Mega Man stated.

"We're patched into the police radio, so we'll know when and where they strike," Batman replied. They then looked about the area, looking for any signs of something out of place, and in a nearby alley, a sewer lid opened.

"Hm, that may be how they sneak up on some of their targets," Spider-Man commented, wondering who may come out, and something came out, too fast for them to see what it was, as it was only in the open for a second before it jumped into the shadows.

"I don't think that's a Purple Dragon," Mega Man said as Batman pulled out his binoculars and tried to look, but it was too dark in that area.

"What a time to forget the night goggles," Spider-Man said.

"Well, either way, he is very nimble, and quick, like a ninja," Batman said.

"Ninja's in New York?" Spider-Man asked.

"You mean those guys dressed in one color outfits, and they have full face masks sort of, and they go about killing people with sharp blades an such?" Mega Man asked.

"That's the light way of describing them, they're more along the lines of skilled assassins," Spider-Man replied. They then watched the area where the figure emerged, and a few more came out, while one quickly hung onto the higher part of a lamppost, above eye level for those on the ground. The figure seemed to be looking for something, and soon went towards their section of the street, and went in close to an alley with another sewer lid. However, before the figure could move towards the lid, an armored truck started to pull up, and the figure hid in the shadows, and the truck then backed into the alley, stopped, and the engine shut off. A few men got out of the truck, driver side, passenger side, the double back door, and they all looked like street gang members.

"Now those are Purple Dragons," Mega Man said as the gang members went into the building right next to the one they were on. The figure then came out, looked under the truck, and when it spoke, it sounded like a man.

"Great, just great, the old turtle luck, true to form," he complained.

"Turtle luck?" Mega Man asked, but Batman and Spider-Man were about as confused as him. The man then kicked the side of the truck in frustration.

"Way to be stealthy, Raph," another man said, and there were three figures just outside the alley, still hidden somewhat.

"Yeah, I don't think they heard you in Joizey!" another added sarcastically. They figured he meant New Jersey.

"Come on, give me a hand," Raph requested as he gestured to the truck. The one who made the Jersey crack held up both hands, about to say something, but then Raph pointed at him.

"_Don't_ even think about it, Mikey!" Raph stated. The other two made sounds of disgust while Mikey looked depressed now.

"Ah forget, I'll push it myself," Raph said as he quickly got behind the truck and started to push on it, but it wouldn't budge. It was quite obvious they weren't human, but what were they doing? It appeared they had no interesting in staying on ground level. But, as Raph pushed, the sound of voices, coming from where the gang entered, reached their ears.

"They're coming back! Raph, hide!" one of them said as the voices drew nearer, and Raph dove into the back of the truck just before the door opened.

"Oieee, poor choice Raphael," Mikey said. The gang came out with bags of money, and tossed them into the truck.

"Oh man did you see the way that guy acted when we took his money!" one of the gang members said.

"Sheep man, sheep to be fleeced by us wolves," another said as he tossed the last bag in. It appeared Raphael was well hidden, but for how long? One of the gang members then quickly hit a few buttons which locked the back doors shut, and they entered the truck, and quickly drove off.

"Dang, will they get a nasty surprise when they open the back of that truck!" Mikey exclaimed.

"This isn't exactly what Master Splinter was talking about, we have to get him out of there!" the one who seemed to be the leader said.

"Well come on! The last one to the roof hatched from a rotten egg!" the other one said as he quickly pulled out a wooden staff, and launched himself onto a fire escape, with the others in pursuit. They watched where the truck went.

"We can cut them off at third and first!" the leader said.

"If we run like crazy!" the other said.

"Is there any other way to run?" Mikey asked before they took off running, and leaped with the skill and grace of ninjas from rooftop to rooftop. Mega Man and the others followed, and after a little bit, they reached and they soon reached an area that was slightly square shaped. There wasn't anything there really, and the gang came out, and they began to head for one of the buildings, until one of them stopped and turned towards a heavyset one.

"Hey Twoton, watch the truck, we wouldn't want anyone to steal our stolen money!" he said before they all chuckled to themselves. Mega Man was a bit angered by that statement. But they didn't see where the other guys were, but then there was a faint sound that got Twoton's attention. And then someone got behind him, and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, this is a no parking zone!" Mikey said as Twoton turned around.

"Here's your ticket, and here's your fine!" Mikey said before he roundhouse kicked Twoton right in the face, knocking him right into the truck.

"Nice work Mikey!" the leader said as he landed next to the truck.

"It's a ninja thing!" Mikey replied rather smugly while they other landed behind him.

"Okay, but we need to get Raph out of that truck," he said.

"Man, what ever happened to good old fashion padlocks?" Mikey asked.

"Where's the fun in that? This one's all mine!" the one with the staff said as he pulled out two screwdrivers and spun them.

"Think you can open it Don?" the leader asked.

"Watch me!" Don replied as he quickly got to work. Meanwhile Raph was starting to yell about something, but it was muffled.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that these guys are not bad guys, they seem too worried about keeping themselves hidden and looking out for each other to be with the Purple Dragons. And I don't think they're even human," Mega Man said.

"He's got a point, but they helped lead us to a Purple Dragon gang, we'll take care of those guys when they get back," Spider-Man said.

"What's that Raph? You're gonna have to speak up dude, _I can't hear you!_" Mikey said in a funny voice. Then Raph punched the window.

"Ok, I heard that," Mikey said.

"I'm trying to work _here!_" Don stated, clearly saying he needed silence. They waited a bit, and soon Don did it, and the doors unlocked.

"Hey Raph, welcome back bro, did you DOOH!" Mikey yelped as Raph burst out of the truck and tackled him to the ground, and started to beat on him a bit.

"What a hot head!" the leader said as he looked at Don, while Mikey screamed "OW! OWOWOWOWOW!" and then the leader noticed something.

"Raph, we don't have time for this!" the leader said as he drew one of his Katanas, while Don drew his staff.

"And why not?" Raph asked as he held Mikey up against a wall.

"Because we're not alone!" Mikey replied as he pointed, the Purple Dragons were back, and they didn't look at all pleased. They soon all spoke one after the other.

"Look at the freaks!"

"What's with the dweeby costumes?"

"This ain't Halloween!" And soon the ring leader spoke as he spun his staff around.

"You're going down freaks! No one messes with the Purple Dragons! Especially wearing _stupid_ turtle costumes!" And with a sudden motion, Mega Man, Batman, and Spider-Man landed behind the Purple Dragons.

"How about masked vigilantes?" Spider-Man asked. Everyone looked at them in shock.

"You picked the wrong night to try and rob our neighborhood," Mega Man said. And with that, everyone sprung into action. Raph pulled out his Sai, Mikey pulled out his Nunchucks, while Don and their leader got into battle stances, and the Purple Dragon group split up, one going after Mega's group, and the rest after the Turtles. One goon swung a crowbar at Spider-Man, but he ducked it, and punched him, knocking him to the floor instantly. Batman was in rare form, as one guy with a baseball bat swung at him, and Batman grabbed it, pushed hard, which sent the butt of the into the guys gut, and then flipped it, which caused the butt to smack the guy right in the jaw, and Batman grabbed the handle, and hit the guy aside with it, and quickly knocked away everyone that came at him with just two simple swings, as that was all he needed. Only a few came at Mega Man, and he hit them away with hard punches and kicks, as his buster would be overkill. Needless to say, the numbers quickly dropped to none, as the ones who were knocked down for a bit would get up and run away.

"Now that was awesome! Being able to fight alongside great heroes like yourselves, that was great!" Mikey exclaimed. This was the first time Mega Man, Batman and Spider-Man fully saw them. They were humanoid Turtles, and they each had a different headband that went over their eyes, but there were eye slits so they could see. Mikey had orange, Raph had red, Don had purple, and the leader had blue.

"Well, thanks for the compliment, but who are you guys," Mega Man asked as Batman tossed the bat away.

"I'm Leonardo, and these are my brothers, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael" Leo replied.

"Ninja Turtles named after renaissance masters? Now that's a twist," Spider-Man commented.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Batman asked.

"Well, our home got trashed, and we can't just go back and fix it up, they trashed it so bad that it can't be lived in anymore!" Mikey replied.

"And the path to get to our master got blocked off, so we were going to go down another manhole," Leo added.

"Yeah, that didn't go to well, we saw that part," Mega Man said.

"Well, it's clear that you aren't with the Purple Dragons, and I say this might knock them off their game for a bit," Spider-Man said.

"Well I only hope there are more of those guys, I'm just getting warmed up!" Raph said.

"Uhh, careful what you wish for Raphy boy, I think it just came true!" Mikey said as he pointed towards the surrounding rooftops, there were many dark figures, and they all seemed to be dressed in the same outfit.

"Are those guys……..ninjas?" Leo asked. And they all came down and formed a circle around them. They were all dressed in the same outfit alright, mostly black, with grey leggings, and grey tunics. And they all had the same, three clawed symbol on their chests. Almost diamond shaped, except for the top, which was made up of three points, pointing upward. And they were also armed with katanas, staffs, and other ninja weapons.

"Well, they're certainly ninja-esque" Mikey replied.

"_This_ could be a problem," Spider-Man commented.

"I'll say, with this many guys, and if they're as skilled as I think they are, we're in for a tough fight," Mega Man agreed. Batman's eyes just simply narrowed.

"Be ready, for anything!" Leo warned as he got ready.

"I'm sooooo gonna enjoy this!" Raph said. There was a bit of a pause, until Mega Man let out a charged shot, and nailed three ninjas with it! Everyone quickly scattered, Don held the staff behind his back as he bent down and spun, knocking a few of the ninjas away. Batman weaved through the attacks by either simply sidestepping, or ducking, and once in awhile when called for, do a slight leap. He was simply getting a feel of what they can do, before going on the offensive. One ninja thrust his sword at Spider-Man but he leaned out of the way, and grabbed his wrist when it was close enough, and socked him across the face. Leo held his ground pretty well, as he blocked every attack swung at him. Mega Man walloped a few of in quick succession, as they came at him pretty fast, but he moved just a hair faster than them. Raph was doing fairly well as well, and Mikey got surrounded a little, and managed to clobber them quickly. Leo then got onto the overhangs, and one of the ninjas landed up there as well, but further away from him, and the ninja ran towards him, while then running along the wall towards him! The ninja then swung once he was near, but Leo blocked it, and then many of the ninjas began to swarm him. Batman at this point was actually attack the ninjas after they miss, and after Don floored a few of them, and then one quickly leap-kicked him into the side of the truck, and Mikey hit the spot next to him.

"Hey, are we beating them? Or are they beating us?" Mikey asked Don, as Spider-Man opened the door on the truck that they were near, and yanked them in and closed it, just when many sharp ninja stars hit the truck. The door then opened slightly and Don and Mikey looked out, while Spider-Man looked out the other side.

"Ask me again when we're _winning _Mikey!" Don replied.

"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Mikey said. All of them then quickly gathered around the truck.

"How many of these guys to we have to bap, before they get the hint?" Raph asked.

"There are way to many of them, their numbers seem endless!" Mega Man replied.

"It's like a personal army! Who in the world would have these many ninjas in one town?" Spider-Man asked.

"We need to get out of here, and fight them another day, we won't last much longer," Batman replied.

"Don, how you coming along?" Leo asked, as Don was quickly working under the steering wheel.

"Almost got it," Don replied, and then there was a spark, and the engine turned over.

"This bus, is now leaving, for anywhere but here!" Don called as he slammed the door shut.

"Later guys!" Mega Man said as he ran to the back, while Batman tossed a smoke pellet to give them some cover, and they all got into the back of the truck and slammed it shut, and the quickly drove off, but not really too well, as Don smashed and banged into stuff at high speeds.

"Nice driving Don, especially for a turtle without a license!" Mikey stated as they bounced a bit.

"Hey, you want pretty? Or do you want affective?" Don asked as he made a sharp turn, and they soon went straight for once.

"Man, this has been major bizarro day! First there's those robots underground, and what's up with those ninjas? Ninjas in New York? Besides us? It's just not right!" Mikey stated.

"Robots underground?" Mega Man asked.

"Speaking of not right, check this out!" Raph said as he opened a zipper bag and dumped out a whole lot of money.

"Show me the money baby!" Mikey exclaimed as he grabbed two fist full amounts of money.

"This isn't "Finders keepers" Michelangelo!" Batman stated as he swiped one of the handfuls.

"We should return the money to the guy it was stolen from," Mega Man said.

"Do you remember the way to that building?" Spider-Man asked.

"……….no," Mega Man replied.

"Well then what do we do with it?" Raph asked. Meanwhile, up ahead, Elisa was heading for her car, after she had talked with a few of her fellow officers, who were still close by, when the armored truck pulled up.

"Hm?" she glanced in confusion at the truck that pulled up suddenly, only to see green hands holding a bag of money out the window.

"Hey, take care of this money for us, will ya guys?" Leo asked as he tossed it at her car, and landed on it's hood, and the truck drove off. Elisa couldn't help but stare blankly for a few moments at the money, then where the truck sped off, then at the couple of officers that were as equally confused as her.

"Did you see that? Someone just threw a bunch of money at Elisa!" one of them said.

"And what a weird costume he was wearing! But, I'm pretty sure this money isn't counterfeit, we should check to see if there was any money stolen recently, maybe this is it," Elisa said.

"But, the question is, was the ones who returned the money the ones who stole it, but had a change of heart? Or were they the ones who recovered it?" she asked. Awhile later at the old drainage junction, the armored truck bashed through the gate, and there meditating was a humanoid rate, with gray fur, wearing a brown Japanese-style robe.

"Sensei!" The Turtles exclaimed as they got out of the truck, and quickly embraced their master.

"So this is Master Splinter?" Mega Man asked.

"I was expecting another turtle," Spider-Man commented.

"A mentor or master can be anything, or anyone," Batman said.

"Yes, it is good to see you too my sons!" Splinter said.

"Master Splinter, so much has happened today!" Leo said.

"There will be time to tell all about later, but first, tell me about these three that you brought with you," Splinter said, turning his attention to the trio.

"We helped you students find their way back you, and in return, they helped us as well," Mega Man replied.

"I can clearly see you want you presence in this world kept secret, and we ourselves are men of secrecy, the world will not hear about you from us," Batman said.

"You have our word," Spider-Man added.

"Well, I can see that you are men of honor. Come my sons, it's time to take you all home," Splinter said as he started to leave.

"Home?" Mikey asked.

"We ain't got no home! Those robots trashed our pad! Remember sensei?" Raph asked as he bent downed and lightly banged the head of one the remains of a small robot, and Mega Man noticed all the scattered robot parts.

"Do not worry, I believe I have found a solution, to our current, "Housing" problem," Splinter replied as he jumped down a hole in the ground. The turtles just shrugged and did fancy flips into the hole, and the others quickly followed, they wanted to see how this developed, and if they could help. They soon reached bottom, after a slight crash landing.

"Wicked slide!" Mikey said. The area was dim, and it just looked like a tunnel.

"Um, no offense Master Splinter, but this place doesn't seem to great," Mikey said as he caught up with Splinter, who was still walking along down the tunnel.

"Look with you heart, and not with your eyes," Splinter replied.

"Um, okay," Mikey said rather unsure.

"And walk this way," Splinter called to them as he still walked. And Mikey, being the wise guy that he is, started to pretend walk like Splinter, and Don then whacked him upside the head with his staff. They followed Splinter, into a huge area, although it was a bit messy, it was perfect, as it had many small rooms scattered about, and there were many different levels.

"This is beyond awesome!" Mikey said.

"I could really tune this place up!" Don said as they quickly went about the place to check it out.

"Well, it looks like you found a good home for yourselves," Spider-Man commented as the turtles checked the place out.

"You see my sons? Change, is good," Splinter said.

"We couldn't agree more Master Splinter," leo said.

"Splinter, you know the ways of ninjistu, and the way of balance, for both body and soul, right?" Mega Man asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Splinter ask.

"I could use some spiritual guidance, and a little training to sharpen my skills," Mega Man replied.

"Someone else wants to train with us?" Raph asked.

"I have a feeling you have other reasons to request this, and I will help, come when you feel ready," Splinter replied.

"I'll come by when you're more settled, but I'll come and go on occasion," Mega Man said.

"Later guys, we may call for your help in the future," Spider-Man said as he, Batman and Mega Man began to leave.

"Later guys," Leo said. After Mega Man and his pals were out of the chamber, Spider-Man looked at Mega.

"You know, asking Splinter to help you with spiritual guidance, was probably a good idea. It might help you keep that dark being within you under control until we find a way to remove it," he said.

"You're right. I need all the help I can get," Mega Man said.

"And we'll help you every step of the way. But know that there are a few things you will have to accomplish on your own." Batman said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, and I don't intend to fail in my mission, and I intend to keep the promises I made," Mega Man said. Hours later, at the top floor of a very tall skyscraper, that had the same symbol that was on the chests of the ninjas, a meeting was taking place. The ringleader of the Purple Dragon, was with the leader of the ninjas. The man that was in charge of the ninjas, was a strong looking man, dressed in Japanese garments, his hair was short and black, and he was drinking steaming tea.

"Sir, we lost the armored car, with the all the money we stole. But we were attacked! By some, weird, karati…frog creatures, along with the Spider-Man and Batman, along with that guy that came from space! It wasn't my fault! I swear, I won't fail you again!" the ringleader said. The other man then set the tea down.

"Wrong, you won't fail me again, ever!" he stated.

"No sir….please!" the ringleader pleaded. But a few seconds later, his scream echoed in outside the top of the building, soon followed by dark laughter.

End Chapter 20


	21. Nights of the Ninjas part 2

Note, This is the first time I do a lot of scene switching in this one, but I make it clear when it switches. Just letting you know.

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 21

Nights of the Ninjas part 2

Elisa Maza, of the New York Police Department, was baffled. First there were the crimes being committed by the Purple Dragons, and then an armored truck driver tossed a lot of money at her, which she found out was indeed stolen, but who were the ones who gave her the money? Personally, she was glad when she saw Batman yesterday, perhaps this was a sign that most of them were going straight. With nothing going on at the Police Department, Elisa went out to see if she could find anything. The streets were quiet tonight, with very little activity. She rather liked the quiet evenings, it helped her think. After walking for a bit, she was walking in an area where there was no one else around, just a quiet street. Then there was a loud *CRACK* which nearly made Elisa jump out of her skin, and when she looked back, she saw Batman had knocked out a Purple Dragon.

"You should be more careful, this guy was about to knock you out," Batman said.

"Thanks," Elisa said, and Batman turned to leave.

"Wait!" she then called, and Batman looked back at her.

"I need to ask you, do you have any idea as to what is going on here?" she asked.

"Not yet, but I'm sure of one thing, these gangs are working with a band of Ninjas, as that money we gave to you was apparently stolen by the Purple Dragons, to be given to the Ninjas," Batman replied.

"What would ninjas want with money?" Elisa asked.

"Probably to help fund whatever they're planning, which is what is we're trying to find out. You wouldn't happen to be a detective would you?" Batman asked.

"A second-class one. Why?" Elisa asked. Batman then handed her a piece of paper, with the same symbol that was one the ninjas' chests.

"This marking was on the ninjas' chests. It is probably the symbol of their clan, if we learn who that symbol belongs to, it will help us figure out just what is going on," Batman replied.

"Sure is an interesting shape. How'd you get this picture?" Elisa asked.

"One of our allies has a photographic memory, he drew it himself," Batman replied.

"That's some memory. Do you suppose I could………" Elisa trailed off when she noticed Batman was gone, and the goon tied and handcuffed.

"Humph, a bit of a ninja yourself I see," she then said. A few minute later elsewhere, Batman landed near Spider-Man.

"Any leads?" Spider-Man asked.

"Not yet, but I got us a detective in the police department, who seems to want to get things done around here. It was the woman we dropped the money off with last night," Batman replied.

"That woman was a detective? Wow, and I thought all detectives were guys that were either handsome or ugly in trench-coats," Spider-Man commented.

"She's an officer we can at least trust. We'll need all the help we can get if we hope to figure this whole thing out, there is more to this than meets the eye," Batman said.

"I'll believe that, when a gang is taking order from ninjas, something is up," Spider-Man said.

"By the way, where is Mega Man at anyway?" Batman asked.

"Right now he is helping the turtles move in. Also, he said Don is going to try and repair one of those robots and track it back to where it came from," Spider-Man replied.

"I guess that will help us out some, those robots could cause some real trouble if left unchecked," Batman said. Meanwhile, back at the turtles' lair, one of those robots was lying in pieces on a table, and Don was slowly putting it back together, by connecting wires, and welding it.

"Even though it isn't active, that thing still makes me uneasy Donatello," Splinter stated as he pointed at the robot's head. It was rather creepy looking, it's hard to describe, but it's pretty much a long saw that could bite you hand off in one chomp.

"Out of the all the robots I've seen, this one seems kind of dinky," Mega Man said.

"It may be dinky, but it's powerful enough to eat through solid rock and steel!" Don stated.

"But still, what was it built for? Seems kind of random to build something like this," Mega Man said.

"Well what ever the reason, they nearly leveled our home, and tried to make robo-chow out of us," Don replied.

"Either way, it seems odd to me, it's so much stuff going on, first I was trying to figure out why the Purple Dragons got so bold, now I have to figure out those ninjas and these robots!" Mega Man said.

"Try not to overtax yourself, for a stressed mind, can not do much," Splinter said.

"I know that Master Splinter, I just don't like not knowing things. I don't remember much about myself, really," Mega Man said.

"A man of your position indeed does have many questions, but that does not change the facts at hand," Splinter said.

"You're right. Trying to dwell on things won't change them, but I won't ignore them, I'll take them on one by one," Mega Man said. And at that moment, Leo and Raph returned on the Sewer Slider, which was basically car built to travel in the sewer, it looked like a racecar, and it had a flying mode so it could traverse the more complex areas with ease. They had come back with the rest of the stuff from their old lair.

"Hey Mikey, your DVD collection survived!" Leo said as he spun the box of DVDs on one finger before tossing it to Mikey, who caught it with one hand. And Mikey was standing next to a huge collection of TV sets they had collected, most of them the same size and style, but some were much, much bigger, making it a very huge entertainment area.

"Awesome! Let's pop something in that's light on story, and heavy on gory!" he said as he turned on the TV sets, and it was set on a news channel at the moment. It was covering something at the Stocktronic's Inc.

"Boring!" Mikey said while making a hand gesture over his mouth to make a fake yawn, and was then about to change the channel.

"Wait! I want to see this!" Don stated, and everyone came over.

"Founder and C.E.O Dr. Baxter Stockman was on hand to unveil his latest innovation," a female reporter voice said. Dr. Stockman was a dark skinned man wearing glasses, and his hair was dark.

"A wise man once said, 'Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door,'" Stockman said as he cleaned his glasses a little.

"I say, let the path beating begin!" he added after he set them back on.

"For I, Dr. Baxter Stockman, have designed a solution to the city's ever growing rat problem. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the ultimate expression of rodent extermination; the Stocktronic Mouser!" he said as he removed a huge piece of cloth that was next to him, and standing there, was the robot that Mega Man saw Don working on, except this one was whole of course. Almost everyone was shocked by this development.

"I can't believe that the famous Baxter Stockman would try and pass of this killer robots as a 'Good Thing,'" Don said as he looked at the head of the Mouser he had while holding it up. Mikey then took the head and looked at it.

"And what's up with those glasses?" Mikey asked, and he then held out the head.

"Dork city!" he then added in a funny tone while making the Mouser head open and close like a sock puppet. And then Raph pulled out one of his sai and quickly stabbed one of the TV set.

"RGH I say we head on over to Stocktronics and kick some serious shell!" he said as he was quickly going to head out, but Splinter got in front of him.

"Absolutely not!" Splinter stated before he smacked Raph right in the top of the head with his cane.

"Your last venture to the surface was a complete disaster! You cannot afford to be seen by more humans," he added. Mega Man glanced at the TV as the news coverage continued.

"My lab assistant, Miss April O'Neil, will release several rats into the simulation chamber," Stockman said as the camera was on April. Her hair was red and long, and tied up in the back, and her eyes green. She was wearing a white lab coat over yellow clothes. And she was holding a huge box full of rats.

"April, proceed, my dear," Stockman added as she walked over, and quickly dumped the rats into a maze area on the floor, and the rats quickly dispersed into it. Stockman then placed the mouser at the very beginning of the maze.

"Now, witness the shear genius of my mouser, in action!" he said as the mouser quickly started to run in the maze. After a little bit, it came upon its first rat, and quickly gave chase, and won by eating it, along with the rest.

"Man, I'd hate to be a rat in this town. Oh, sorry master Splinter," Mikey said. As the report continued, Stockman mentioned that the mousers were all controlled by a single, mother computer. Meanwhile that moment at the lab, April pointed at one of the screens where she was sitting, which had the same report running.

"This is great! Now all my family and friends will now believe me, that I work for _the _famous Baxter Stockman.

"You flatter me miss O'Neil, I like that," Stockman said.

"Huh? That's odd," April said.

"What is it?"

"I was running a standard diagnostic of the system, and half of the mouser prototypes aren't responding! It's as if they disappeared. I'd better check their last transmission feed." Stockman then placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That won't be necessary, it's probably a system glitch, I'll have maintenance check on it in the morning."

"But what if they've been tampered with? We should check all their transmission backups!"

"That _won't_ be necessary, April," Stockman said as he headed to leave.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm expecting a very important call from a very significant financial backer," he added, leaving April feeling utterly confused, if not a bit suspicious. Awhile later on one of the rooftops, Spider-Man pulled out a custom-made communicator, which was given to him by Batman.

"Hey Mega, how are things on your end?" he asked.

"Well, I found out what those robots are," Mega Man replied.

"Really?"

"They were made by a Dr. Baxter Stockman, to be rat hunters."

"You mean they go after rats?"

"Which would explain why they attacked the turtles lair, it was a test run. Although I doubt they knew that would happen, but something seems fishy about their design, I think it maybe for something other than eating rats."

"Any examples?"

"Well, stealing may be a feature."

"Stealing?"

"They can eat through steel and stone with ease, so they can bust into about anyplace."

"I see your point. What should we do?"

"Sadly, we can't do much until something _does _happen."

"Yeah, just because they _can_ steal, doesn't mean they will."

"Well, keep your eyes open, there is probably more to this."

"Right, let's keep each other updated."

"Keep sharp, those ninjas could still be around."

"Ninjas in New York, why do I get the feeling it'll only get worse? And not just for New York, I mean."

"Yeah, even if we beat these ninjas, I have a feeling something bigger will happen. Mega Man out."

Soon, at Dr. Stockman's lab, in his office to be precise. He was already talking with his financial backer.

"The Mousers will be ready, when _I_ decide they're ready! Our first field test was…" Stockman didn't get to finish.

"Was a complete, failure! I do not tolerate, failure!" the leader of the ninjas stated.

"Which is why you'd make a lousy scientist," Stockman said sort of snobbishly, but it was true.

"The test, was supposed to expose any possible design flaws. As a result, I've already upgraded the mousers, for greater durability. And I assure you, they will be ready for the next phase of the plan," he added while April had her ear pressed against the door, listening in on Stockman.

"They had better, Dr. Stockman, for your sake!" the leader of the ninjas said, which shocked April.

Mega Man was leaning up against a pillar with his eyes shut, trying to keep his strength up. For the past few hours though, almost every time he would close his eyes, he would find himself looking at the moon, from either standing at the top of a grassy hill, or floating within space, not too far away from it. His eyes opened again, but this time after hearing what sounded like a female voice.

"The Moon Kingdom….." he said.

'_I never really thought about it before, but I did have slight memory flashes about a moon before I got here, but after I got here, I seem to be having more and more visions about a moon. The Moon princess. I can slightly remember her…..but there is much I still don't remember….her face……..her voice………her eyes………..' _Mega Man thought to himself. He then snapped to attention when he heard the sounds of a small fight outside the entrance of the turtles' home. He quickly went to look, and found Leo and Raph were at it, but before he could do anything, a Mouser went right by him, and it went right past Leo and Raph, who looked at it with puzzled expressions.

"Come on guys, I got one working!" Don called as he and Mikey ran past them.

"And he's faster than he looks!" Mikey added.

"You going to just let that Mouser roam free?" Raph asked

"Master Splinter is so going to kill us," Leo said as he quickly went after them, with Mega Man right behind him, and went past him as Leo stopped.

"You coming or what?" he called to Raph.

"If you insist," Raph replied sort of sarcastically. Soon they were all after the Mouser, trying to keep up with it to see if it will lead them back to where it came from. Meanwhile, back at the lab.

"Good night, April, and don't work too long, you know I don't like to pay overtime," Stockman said as he left.

"Goodnight, Dr. Stockman," April said as he left. She waited a bit before she then went into Stockman's office, and quickly went over to his computer.

"Now, let's see what kind of plan you've been cooking up with those mousers, Dr. stockman," April said as she typed quickly.

"I never seen that icon before," she then said when she saw a red icon, which was the same symbol that the ninjas had. She clicked on the icon, and a secret door opened, and she stared at it in disbelief. Back with the our heroes, they followed the mouser to an area where many of the water pipes crisscrossed, and there was a huge body of water below, swirling like a whirlpool, and there were a few waterfalls. They were following the mouser across one of the pipes.

"Watch your step here guys, you don't want to end up as turtle soup," Leo warned as they ran across. Soon the mouser reached the end of the pipe, and quickly started using its legs to climb up the wall, by stomping its feet into the wall, leaving very distinguished footprints.

"Resourceful little critter!" Don said, a little annoyed that it would choose a path they would have a heck of a time following.

"So what do we do now?" Raph asked.

"Like Master Splinter says, a ninja is always prepared!" Leo replied as he pulled out palm spikes and quickly slipped them on.

"I thought that was the boy scouts," Mikey joked as he put his pair on. Back where April was, she soon figured out how to enter the elevator, and it started to take her down to a sub level at a fast speed. Back with the others, they were already climbing up the wall the Mouser went up.

"Man, next time let's leave the wall crawling to the guy in the red and blue………oh wait, he's a friend of yours," Mikey said.

"Yeah, and he's been keeping busy topside," Mega Man said. They were somewhat right behind the Mouser, and it soon climbed into another sewer section, and they soon entered as well, and started running after it again.

"Just one question, Donny, what's to stop old robojaws from setting another one-seventy on the rector scale?" Mikey asked.

"I deactivated it jaw servos, it couldn't chew through a stick of gum!" Don replied. But then as if on cue, the Mouser then quickly started to chew through the pipes and wall to their right.

"You were saying?" Mikey asked as they quickly stopped.

"Wow, what a hungry little guy!" Mega Man said.

"But…..but I'm sure I deactivated it!" Don said.

"Don's finally lost his techno mojo! Sad, really," Mikey said after patting Don on the shoulder.

"It must have a built in override system," Don commented.

But it soon stopped, and when she stepped out, she was in a small glass-walkway which overlooked a huge room, filled with many Mousers being built, and many that are already built, are just being checked for bugs and such.

"I don't care how bad the city's rodent problem is, this is serious overkill!" April stated as she looked out the glass. And she started to walk to where she might get some answers, and she tripped a silent alarm by stepping in front of a infrared sensor.

"Probably, or it did a system reset, maybe," Mega Man said. As they were about to follow the Mouser through the big hole in the wall it made.

"Wait a minute, that is a serious water main, hanging right over our heads!" Don exclaimed, making them stop.

"Yeah, so?" Raph asked.

"Well, out little friend just ate through the pipe's support!" Don replied.

"Ohhh crud," Mega Man said as he saw the pipe starting to get cracks, as it moaned and creaked, and water was quickly starting to drip out. Within a second or two, the pipe then broke open, and the water came out in huge amounts, and washed our heroes away! Mea Man managed to cling to the end of the pipe they climbed onto, with the water rushing over him, but the turtles weren't so lucky. After the rushing water slowed a bit, he looked and saw Don had used his staff to get a firm hold on a pipe, and Leo had hold of his feet, and Raph had hold of Leo's, and Mikey a hold of Raph's.

"OUCH! Watch where to point those spikes, Mikey!" Raph exclaimed. Mega Man noticed none of them removed their spikes.

"Hang on guys, I got an idea!" Mikey said as he started to swing. Although the others warned him to stop, he took it all the way, and they flew through a mini waterfall, and Mega Man saw them cling to the wall past it.

"Is everyone alright?" Leo asked. Raph then spat out some water.

"Yeah, great."

"Well, at least we didn't die," Mega Man said.

Back with April, she had found a room where she could check out the Mousers' programming.

"Rat problem my eye, what are you really planning, Dr. Stockman?" April asked.

"Now April dear, that would be telling," Stockman said as he entered the room with his hands behind his back.

"For you see, my Mousers shall give me vast fortune, and make me a very rich and powerful man!" he added.

"But, aren't you already a rich and powerful man?" April asked as the glass behind her started to open.

"Haaa, April, so young and brilliant, yet so naïve. I shall miss working with you," Stockman replied.

"What? You mean I'm fired?" April asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Stockman replied as he pressed a button on the remote he held behind his back, and a huge metal claw reached in and grabbed April, and yanked her out of the little room. She thrashed about trying to get free as the claw moved her over to where a huge set of Mousers were sitting there, inactive. The claw then dropped her, and her lab coat got hooked on it and ripped while she hit the ground with a thud.

"No hard feelings April, you were a good assistant, but, you've seen too much already," Stockman said over the speaker as he pressed some buttons, and the Mousers' eyes started to blink on, and soon their jaws started to clap their metallic tune. Back with the others, they were now back where they were washed away from.

"When I find that little runt I'll grind him into little bot burgers!" Raph stated.

"No Raph, we still nee him intact," Don said.

"What makes you think we'll even find the little blender butt?" Mikey asked.

"I think he left us a few clues," Leo replied while pointing to the hole in the wall.

"Duh!" Mega Man said. Back with April, she was about to become the first human to be eaten by Mousers if she didn't do something. She quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and sprayed one that was coming for her, and it stopped. But after she was done, it made its metallic roar at her.

"Forgot, these guys can withstand a lot of moisture, no rusting," she said to herself before she then smashed its head in with the butt of the extinguisher. She was a bit confident now, as the second one came at her, and she swung from the side, and it clamped its jaws onto it, and soon bit it open, making a smoke screen. April then started to run to try and find an exit.

"You can run, April, but you can't hide from my Mousers!" Stockman taunted as the smoke started to blanket the area, blocking his view. She soon found a door and pressed a button near it, and it opened from the bottom, and led to the sewer. Because the mist had went under the door, April couldn't see the drop ahead of her, and fell into the sewer water. It wasn't deep, but she was really startled by it, and she had two paths she could go. She ran down one path, and came across a four-way split.

"Which is the way out?" April asked as she looked at them, but knew she had to move fast, so she picked one and started running, and at this point, the mousers were already starting to get on her trail. Back with the others, they soon entered an area of the subway.

"Man, I never would have thought the sewers led to so many places," Mega Man commented.

"They trace the entire city, after all," Leo said.

"There!" Raph exclaimed as he pointed, and across the tracks was the Mouser they were following. They all started to run, but Leo then stopped Raph as he was about to get on the tracks, and yanked him back, as he was almost creamed by a speeding train. Once it went by, the Mouser was gone!

"Whoa! Robo Houdini!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Wrong, Robo hitchhiker!" Leo replied, as the Mouser had clomped onto the back of the train.

"Two can play that game!" Raph stated as he walked forward with his Sai out, and another train was coming, and he leaped onto it, and stabbed his Sai into the roof!

"What a maniac!" Leo exclaimed.

"Yeah," Don sighed.

"Wait for us!" he then called as they went after the train, while Mega Man pulled out a Bat grapple he got from Batman.

"Glad I borrowed this," he said as he fired it, and got yanked with the train as soon as the grapple hooked it while the others jumped on the train. After a bit, the Mouser then let go, and started to head for a hole in the wall.

"There's our stop!" Raph said as he rolled off of the train, and onto the ground, and the others leaped off, while Mega Man detached the grapple and rolled towards them.

"Not one for long rides, is he?" Mega Man asked before they went into the hole. They entered another sewer area, this one had stairs, and a mini waterway. Across the water was a Mouser.

"Whoa! Who invited him?" Mikey asked when another came up on their side!

"I got it!" Raph said as he threw a mini saw blade and it ripped through the Mouser's head, making it fall over.

"Not exactly tough, are…." Mega Man didn't get to finish when it stood back up.

"They?" he finished before it did its little roar.

"Noisy little thing, aren't you!" he then exclaimed as he bunted it into a wall, smashing it.

"Got any more ideas? Cause here are all his little friends!" Mikey exclaimed as a lot of Mousers started to swarm them.

"Yeah, and there are a lot more of them, too," Raph said.

"These guys are a lot stronger than the last batch we fought!" Leo stated as he slashed one, while Mega Man shot a couple of them.

"Maybe for you they are, but with these numbers, they're a hassle either way," Mega Man said as Raph took one out while Don and Mikey smacked some away. One leaped for Mega Man's face, but he smashed its face by hitting it from both sides. After a bit of fighting, Don and Mikey got to some high ground, and the three of them stayed on the ground.

"Guys, the only way to stop them is to slice their heads off!" Leo said.

"Well isn't that great news! For the Turtles with the blades!" Mikey said as he knocked a few more away.

"Drive 'em this way!" Raph called. Don then sent one his way.

"We'll slice and dice," Raph added as he destroyed the one sent by Don. They had the situation well in hand, soon there were only a few left.

"Great work, guys, but be sure to leave one…." Don tried to say until Raph sprang at the last one, stabbed it, and then stomped its head in.

"………intact," Don finished with a sad tone.

"What do we do now?" Leo asked.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" a woman screamed.

"Next question?" Mega Man asked before running where the scream came from. April had run into a group of Mousers, and when she turned around, there were some there too! There was just one path for her, and she took it. After running for a bit, she came across a dead end, all the exits were boarded up. The Mousers were closing in, and she tried to pry some of the boards loose, but it was no use. She then fell to her butt in fear as the Mousers neared, and she screamed and shut her eyes when one leaped at her. She was expecting total pain and agony, but she heard many loud noises such as metal being smashed, and slashed. When nothing else happened, and she opened her eyes, and saw all the Mousers were destroyed, and saw five silhouettes.

"Oh…..thank you all….you….you saved my…..my…." April paused once she noticed how weird four of them looked.

"Hey, how ya doin?" Mikey asked as he leaned forward, coming into the light. April then fainted.

"That went well, sort of," Mega Man said as Mikey picked her up.

"Sooo, can I keep her?" Mikey asked after he turned around. *WHOCK* Mega Man then hit him in the side of the face.

"OW! What?" Mikey asked.

"You don't keep humans as pets," Mega Man stated.

End Chapter 21


	22. Nights of the Ninjas part 3

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 22

Nights of the Ninjas part 3

Things were somewhat quiet, if you ignore the sound of the TVs in the Turtles' lair. Sleeping on the sofa in front of the TVs was April O'Neil. She was attacked by killer robots awhile ago, and was saved by Mega Man and the Turtles, and she passed out after seeing Mikey. She looked rather peaceful, and soon started to wake up.

"…….what a strange dream….giant, talking, turtles, fighting robots? Did I fall asleep with the TV on again?" she asked as she propped herself up before shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

"That was the…..weirdest…….thing…..I've……..ever….seen….." she slowed down as her eyes then fell upon the four turtles, as they were watching over her. She looked around real quick to get her bearings before Mikey stepped up to her, practically getting right in her face.

"Hi!" Mikey said. April, not used to a giant turtle, let alone a talking one, she screamed her head off, which also made Mikey scream just as loud.

"Please don't do that!" Mikey pleaded as he got back while waving his hands a bit.

"I almost jumped out of shell!" he added while he placed a hand on his chest while holding out the other one, sort of holding towards her, as if to keep her quiet.

"It….has….three…..fingers!" April said before grabbing the pillow her head was resting on, and sort of pulled it over her head while repeating the same words "I'm asleep." over and over again.

"This isn't going very well," Don said.

"Hey, we don't have much practice talking with humans, it's gonna take a little time," Mikey stated.

"It's a bit of a two way street. You guys sort of do know how to talk with humans, it's just that, humans aren't used to talking to _you_," Spider-Man said as he stuck to a nearby pillar. April looked up from the pillow for a second or two before pulling down again.

"I am so sleep," she said before repeating again, which soon made Mikey yawn.

"Man, she's making _me_ sleepy!" he stated. Raph then tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey you," he called.

"Huh?" April asked as she looked at him.

"What do you know about those Mouser robot things?" Raph asked. April then brought the pillow down where she was kind of hugging it.

"Well, first I thought they for cleaning up the city's rat problem," April started.

"But then I got suspicious when Dr. Stockman said…." she then paused.

"Oh no….I'm talking to it!" she then said.

"To what?" Leo asked.

"I'm talking to it! To you!" April replied.

"Ok April, you're talking, to a giant, three fingered Turtle, the only logical explanation is that you're dreaming! So everything's ok!" she added.

"Hello!" she then said in a rather weird voice.

"Hello, April," Leo replied, and felt weird by this sudden change of mood.

"How are you…doing?" he then asked.

"Oh I'm doing fine, everything's going great!" April replied before laughing a little, she was obviously cracking up, but freaked out a little when Splinter walked up.

"Then perhaps you are ready to answer some questions," he stated as he stopped and rested both hands on the top of his cane.

"You….you're….you're a…." April paused, after that, she passed out, and both Mega Man and Spider-Man face palmed.

"You sure have a way with the ladies Master Splinter," Don said as Leo grabbed the sides of his head.

"Any ideas? She's the only one who has the information we need, we need to proceed carefully," Batman said as Mikey started walking off.

"Let's nudge her," Leo said.

"I'll snap her out of it," Raph said.

"Raphael, no!" Splinter exclaimed. Mikey then got into a fold up chair and put on the headphones for his portable music player.

"Someone tell me when she wakes up," he said before he turned it on. Back on the surface, things were reasonably quiet, what with it being daytime and all. In one of the banks, a good number of people were there. Putting money in, taking money out. But then the whole place started to shake wildly!

"What's that?" one of the females asked before she ran off, along with everyone else. Soon, deep within the vault, the mousers came out of the floor! And quickly started to break open the deposit boxes, taking out the jewels, money, everything, by grabbing the boxes wither their teeth, and tilting their heads back, causing the money the fall inside their mouths and into their storages stomachs. One of them went over to a security camera within a few seconds, and destroyed it. Elisa, and a few officers were outside when the people came bursting out of the front door, and they quickly went inside after the last of them were out, and Elisa looked around, wondering that was wrong, as no one was in the main area.

"You gotta help, something is happening in the vault!" the bank manager called as he ran over. They quickly followed him to the vault as they drew their guns while he opened the door, and it opened a bit slow, but the forced it open, and Elisa got inside and ducked as she aimed into the cloud a dust in the room, and when it cleared, there was nothing in the room, just a few dollar bills falling into the hole in the floor, which was far too small for anyone to fit inside! The other officers came in as she got and took a few steps forward, and soon saw a footprint, made by one of the mousers.

"The StockTronic mouser?" she asked as she bent down and ran her hand over the footprint. Back in the sewers, Raph soon got Mikey's attention by hitting him in the back of the head slightly.

"What?" he asked as he removed his headset.

"She woke up, and Leo made her some tea, and now she considering we _might_ be real," Raph replied.

"That, is totally radical dude!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Hey, keep talking like that and she'll pass out again," Raph stated as he walked back.

"Heeey," Mikey moaned. April was now sitting on the couch again, and sipped a bit of the tea.

"How are you feeling April?" Mega Man asked.

"Much better now, thanks. I considered this is either a dream, I keep, not waking up from, or this, is the strangest, thing, that's, ever, happened to me," April replied.

"There have been stranger things," Spider-Man stated. The Turtles and Splinter were keeping their proper distance, while Batman and Spider-Man watched the muted Tvs, keeping an eye out for something from the news.

"Miss O'Neal, we have something very important to discus," Splinter said.

"What?" April asked.

"We have never revealed ourselves to the upper world, you have placed us all in great danger," Splinter said as he pointed at the Turtles.

"But Master, she was in trouble, and we helped her," Leo said.

"Yeah, and haven't you always been teaching us to do the right thing?" Raph asked.

"Yes, and as you grow older, you will learn there are many ways to "Do the right thing"," Splinter replied. He then sighed for a moment.

"But there is no going back, I'm afraid we find ourselves, at your mercy," he told April.

"Oh, I would never tell anybody…..who would believe me?" April asked.

"She's got a point," Don agreed.

"True, people hardly believe me, and that I stand for good," Spider-Man added.

"Yeah, we're, un, believe, able!" Mikey said as he took a pose for each word.

"Yeesh, were's your off switch?" Raph asked.

"Seriously, I promise," April said, and Splinter got up from his chair and went up to her, nearly looking her right in the face for a moment or two.

"I believe you," he said. Leo then came up to his side.

"Is this another lesson Master Splinter? How to sense the truth?" he whispered.

"No, this is called trusting your gut," Splitner whispered back.

"So, if I'm keeping your secret, what exactly is it?" Who are you people? Er, Turtles,? Whatever?" April asked.

"I have memories, memories of when I used to be what you would call, "Normal"," Splitner started.

"I remember a day that started like any other, but ended, changing the course of many lives. I witnessed, an accident. A young boy, carried a glass jar, with four pet, infant Turtles. And an old blind man was crossing the street, when he was almost run down by a large truck. Another boy quickly acted when he saw this, and bumped the boy with the jar, and the jar flew through the air, and smashed open, and the turtles fell into a small water current, heading for the sewers. The other boy, got the old man out of the way, which caused the truck to swerve, and as it did so, a metal canister bounced out of the back, and landed in the same water current as the turtles, and followed them down into the sewers. When I arrived, I found it had smashed open, and a glowing ooze covered their bodies. I took pity on them, and gathered them up into a nearby coffee can, and one of them shook a bit of the ooze off, onto me as I did so. I then took them to my burrow, and the next morning, I awoke to find they had doubled in size! The ooze had affected their growth, and I too had changed, becoming larger, and more intelligent. They followed me everyone where, except to the upper world, as I knew the people of the surface, would not understand us. We are so, different. I was amazed by their dexterity, but even so, I could not be prepared for what happened one day. They actually spoke, my name! And soon they were all speaking! Intelligence, followed soon after. Realizing the world above can be a dangerous place, I started to teach them ninjitsu. The secret arts of stealth, and power, and all that I knew of this world. From a battered book, on Renaissance art, that I fished out of the storm drain, I chose names for them. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Together, they are…" Splinter was about to finish, when the four of them put their hands together.

"Turtles forever!" they said.

"Or, something like that we all yell at once," Mikey added as they broke.

"First rule," Raph started as he sat next to April.

"Ignore Mikey, your life will be much easier," he finished.

"And so we've remained in secret, and that is our story," Splinter said.

"But how did you know Martial arts?" April asked.

"That, is a story, for another time," Splinter replied.

"Hey guys, check this out," Spider-Man called. Everyone looked as Spider-Man and Batman moved aside, and they saw a news report for the Bank Robbery, and the reporting called it the "Daring Daylight Robbery."

"A bank robbery?" Mega Man asked.

"Care to guess what did it?" Batman asked as it showed the foot print.

"So that's what he's up too! Baxter is using to Mousers to rob banks!" April stated.

"I wonder what they have to say about it?" Spider-Man asked as the camera shifted to Elisa, and the reporter went to her.

"Detective Moza, do you have anything to say about this?" she asked.

"Well, I have an idea what did this, but as to who, I don't a real answer yet," Elisa replied.

"Well, it looks like we do have a slight clue as _what_ did this, but as to who and why, is still a mystery," the reporter said as she looked at the camera.

"The what and who we know, but the why, is still a mystery," Mega Man stated as he crossed his arms.

"Just a question April, have you seen this symbol?" Spider-Man asked as he held out the symbol the ninjas had.

"Yes! Baxter Stockman had that icon on his computer! And it led to where the mousers were being built!" April replied. Batman looked at the symbol, and detected something more than an icon as Spider-Man put it away before Splinter saw it.

"What do you know about this Stockman guy?" Raph asked.

"He's a genius, but he's also nuts! I used to work for him, but when I got suspicious, he turend the Mousers on me! Luckily I ran into you guys," April replied.

"_He_ destroyed our old lair!" Leo stated.

"It must have been one of his Mouser test runs," April said.

"But that was our home!" Mikey said.

"And now he's graduated to banks!" Don stated.

"Then what our we waitin for? I say we shut down Mouser central, permanently!" Raph said as he took out his sai, spun it, and crossed them in front of his face.

"I just love those action movie lines! Do you make those up yourself?" Mikey asked April.

"Stockman may have the information we need if he's connected with the ones behind the Purple Dragons," Batman stated.

"It won't be easy, Stocktronics is rigged with the most up to the minute security tec," April said.

"PHH! Bring it on! Allow me to introduce our own secret weapon! The techno Turtle himself, _Don_ate_llo_! Take a bow Don!" Mikey said.

"Heh heh! Cut it out!" Don said, somewhat flattered.

"Right, I'm sure he'll tell us if we apply the right pressure," Mega Man said.

"Can we go now? Please?" Raph asked as he was getting very edgy. Around that time, the Mousers from the bank delivered their stolen goods.

"Excellent, excellent! The world, as they say, is my oyster, and aren't the pearls lovely?" Stockman quoted. Then he started to receive a call, which beeped a red light, which made Stockman a bit upset.

"What?" he asked rather annoyed as he hit the button to receive the call.

"Dr. Stockman," the leader of the ninjas voice came in.

"Make it quick, I'm very busy!" Stock said as he sat down.

"I'm contacting you verify that you are fulfilling your end of our bargain! And, that you are on schedule," he said.

"I will not stand for any more of this idiotic interrogation!" Stockman exclaimed.

"I have advanced the Mousers, to the next stage, and they are securing the funds, from the banks, as you requested. Can you grasp, that simple, concept?" Stockman then asked.

"Do not presume to much Dr. Stockman, the price for failure, will be quite, extreme," the man said. Stockman then cut the call.

"Imbecile!" he stated as he shook his fist. After awhile, all of tour heroes, minus Splinter, were going through the sewer, heading to enter Stockman's lab. And they came across a slight alarm system, but Don and April made short work of it. And soon, our heroes were in the ventilation system, and opened a vent after the guards went by.

"That's the main security room, get me inside and I can make blank spots in the security," April said.

"Don't look now, but we got a _blank_ spot right here," Raph said as he pointed at Mikey with his thumb.

"Heeey," Mikey moaned. Batman got out, when to the door, and quickly picked the lock, and saw two guys at the computer ahead. They didn't notice the shadow loom over them until it was too late, as Batman smashed both their heads together, knocking them out. April then got on the computer and quickly started working on it.

"Alright, I reworking the cameras along the halls so they're shut off at fifty second intervals, you'll have to move if you…." she trailed off when she went too look and they were gone already.

"Hey, these guys are good!" she commented. They were all quickly moving through the corridor, and soon they arrived at a door and quickly went through, which led to the main lab, but it was really dark.

"Uhhh, guys, my turtles-senses are tingling!" Mikey said, and Spider-Man face-palmed, but then the door behind them slammed shut with a hard steel door, and the lights came on.

"What's this? Someone trying to break into my laboratory, trying to steal my secrets? You fools! You'll leave with nothing! Not even your lives!" Stockman stated. He then looked at the heat picture that the camera was taking, and got a rather odd sight, Batman was the only normal reading on there, Spider-Man too to an extent, but Mega Man and the Turtles…….

"What _are_ you people?" he asked, rather astonished.

"I guess I'll have to dissect you to fid out," he added as laser guns started to lower from the ceiling. They all quickly scattered as the lasers quickly fired, some of them going rapid fire, other, using a beam. Batman got behind a pillar, drew a batarang, and threw just right, so it would circle around and destroy the gun in the process. Spider-Man took out a few of them by using impact webbing, which usually took out the small guns in one hit, but the bigger ones took a little more damage. Leo actually reflected a beam back with his swords, as they were made out of the right metal, and had a perfect reflective surface. Spider-Man and Don quickly got onto each of the big ones, and reworked their insides, and used their lasers to destroy the rest, and when they jumped down, Mega Man destroyed one, and Batman destroyed the other with an explosive batarang. Stockman was almost in a fit of rage, but quickly ran back as Batman used a grapple, and got himself into the air, and smashed through the glass window into the small room Stockman was in, while the others quickly climbed up a ladder and in through a doorway on the side.

"Your reign of terror is over, Baxter Stockman," Batman said as he towered over Stockman, as he backed up a little.

"Who are you guys working for?" Stockman asked.

"They're with me," April replied as she entered the room through the door that led to the main hall.

"April! You're alive?" Stockman asked, rather shocked to see her alive, and in one piece.

"And kicking! And I've got enough evidence to put you away for a long time, Dr. Stockman!" April replied as Stockman managed to press a button before Raph grabbed him and pulled him away from the keyboard.

"You've just hit you last button!" Raph stated.

"You're too late! I've just recalled the Mousers from their last mission, they'll be here any minute! They will tear you to pieces!" Stockman stated. Spider-Man the looked out the broken window, and saw that a whole lot of them, about a mini army amount was on their way!

"Well he isn't bluffing!" he stated.

"I don't think we can take out that many, they're nastier than a gang of punks armed with pipes and sticks!" Mega Man stated.

"Machines usually are nastier than humans, especially when they're in huge numbers like these," Batman agreed.

"I might be able to shut them down!" April said as she got to the controls.

"It won't make any difference my dear!" Stockman taunted.

"Will you just shut it?" Raph asked as he drew his fist back.

"Raph, we've got bigger troubles!" Leo called as he looked at the ladder, the Mousers were already climbing it as Raph came over, and Stockman got into the elevator in the back.

"You never should have matched wits with me!" he taunted.

"He's getting away!" Mikey stated as he tried to run after him, but the door closed. Mega Man then started blasting the ones climbing the ladder, while Spider-Man webbed up the broken window.

"I know they can eat through just about anything, but this should buy us some time," he said as he finished up.

"Could you hurry it up? I can't keep this up for very long," Mega Man stated, and the elevator opened up again, this time dropping off a whole lot of Mousers!

"The main system is on lockdown, but I might be able to hack it," April said. Things were getting tense as the mousers scaled the walls, climbed the ladder, getting closer each second just about. After a bit, they soon ripped through the webbing, which caused Mega Man to shoot at them, and soon they saw the mousers then climbed through the door he was guarding, and the broke through the other window.

"Well guys, it was nice knowing ya, and at least we get to go out fighting," Raph said.

"Actually, I don't want to go out at all!" Mikey said.

"Man, to be done in by a bunch of little eating robot," Spider-Man said.

"With little razor sharp teeth," Mega Man added. When the mousers were about to strike, their mouths slapped shut, and the became very still and silent, and they yelled lights turned red and blinked. They all looked in confusion before Leo tapped one on the head with the tip of his sword, just got a light ding, and no retaliation. Leo the smiled at Don and they soon rejoiced, April had shut them down! Or they appeared to be on standby, either way, they were in no position to attack.

"Uhhh, guys, I wasn't able to shut then down manually," April started.

"What do you mean? They seem pretty shutdown to me!" Mikey stated as he picked one up and started to lightly hit on the nose area.

"They only way I could stop them, was to initiate an overload sequence!" April finished as the mousers' red lights started to flicker a little faster, and a little bit of black smoke started to come out of their mouths.

"In other words…..LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Mikey exclaimed as he dropped his Mouser, and Don picked up April, and they all jumped out the main window that Batman burst through, and they ran back for the sewer area, while the Mouser's started to let out an alarm sound as their lights blinked faster and faster, until after one last blare, and they all exploded, and the amount that was all together, sent a series of explosions through the other lab areas, pretty much destroying all the Mousers in one fell swoop. It also started to do a real number on the place, as it started to shake and rumble from the explosions, causing small bits of ruble to fall down. Stockman was still running through the halls, making his escape.

"I got them, I got them all!" he said, thinking the explosions finished them off, and he soon ran into something which made him fall backwards with a whump.

"You!" Stockman said as he looked at the man towering over him. And the guy was _huge!_ And tall, and very, very muscular, he looked like real power house, what with how big his arms were. He was dressed it black, with his arms showing, and he had a Purple Dragon tattoo on his left arm, three scar marks on his left cheek, his hair was blond, short cut in the front, and sort of a long, thin ponytail in the back, but he had it hanging over his shoulder.

"What do you want, Hun?," Stockman asked, rather annoyed.

"Troubles, Baxter Stockman?" Hun asked as the place shook.

"Troubles? No, no, everything is going exactly as I planned," Stockman replied as he got to his feet and brushed himself off, before there was a really big shake, and he almost fell over, but Hun was unfazed, and Hun soon grabbed Stockman.

"Then perhaps you'll like to explain this plan, to the master," he said, before carrying Stockman off, despite his protesting. Awhile later, back at the Turtles lair, they finished watching a report on Stockman's lab exploding, and his sudden disappearance.

"What will you do now Ms. O'Neal? You are most certainly out of a job," Splinter stated.

"I'm not exactly sure," April replied.

"We'll help you get back on your feet!" Don said.

"You guys, you have all been, well, great! And by guys, I guess I mean four, big talking Turtles, and A giant talking rat," April said.

"Here's to the new team!" Don said as he held out his drink, and the other turtles, and April put the cups together.

"Well, haven't exactly learned anything new, but we did put a stop to the major targets being robbed," Mega Man said.

"We'll figure this out, sometime soon I hope," Spider-Man said.

"We dealt with far worse things," Batman stated, which made the two of them smile.

Meanwhile, at the Ninja's H.Q.

"So, as any fool can see, the whole thing, was a minor setback," Stockman said, as the leader was sitting down, and Hun stood with his arms crossed.

"With your continued funding, the research can continue immediately," he added as the leader reached over, and put on a two bladed claw gauntlet.

"I'll be back at work, oh, Monday morning," Stockman finished. The leader then stood up and pointed at Stockman with the claw tips.

"You must pay the price for failure, Dr. Stockman!" he stated, which left Stockman standing there with a dumbfounded look, and Hun grabbed by the back of his lab coat, and started to drag him off, as he tried to fight against it, with no progress of getting free of his grip as he was taken out of the room. The leader then stepped forward, and he noticed a few of his servants came in.

"We have the image you requested master," one said, as the other brought in a mouser head, connected to a projector, as a white sheet came down between two pillars across from the Mouser head.

"Ahh, the last the Mouser optics recorded!" the leader said as it turned on the projector, and it showed the heat image of the turtles, Spider-Man, Batman, and Mega Man.

"These are the ones responsible!" he stated in anger, before leaper, and then slashing the sheet in two, his eyes fierce as the small pieces of the sheet fell.

End Chapter 22


	23. Nights of the Ninjas part 4

The Children of Destiny

Chapter 23

Nights of the Ninja's

Part 4

A few weeks or so after the Mouser incident, things calmed down a little. But the fact that that group of ninjas were still around, and the fact they haven't made any moves for awhile, made our heroes feel all the more uneasy. A few things changed during those few weeks, but meanwhile, back where Sonic lived, Link showed up at Tails' workshop, and both he and Sonic felt it was time they paid Mega Man a visit. Slight problem, they had no idea how to get to his world, and how too find him. But, one day, they got an email from him! It told a few things, like how they could get to his world, how to find him, and what has been going on. Tails quickly got to work on the devices Mega Man mentioned, while Link and Sonic read what had been going on with him.

"Well guys, after a lot of planet hopping, I found the Earth I was looking for, and found the two guys Queen Zelda told me to find. This place sure isn't dull, by any means. And a lot happened while on the way here, but I'll fill you in on that when you get here, would be better if I told you that in person anyway. But at any rate, I have been here for a few weeks, and we've been trying to find out about a group of Ninjas, that are in the City of New York, which is technically where we're stationed at, at the moment. We also met up with a group of mutated Turtles, who are also Ninjas. We've been hard at work, trying to find out information about the group of Ninjas, and stop crimes being committed by a gang calling themselves "The Purple Dragons", who seem to have some sort of relation to the Ninjas, we just don't know what yet. We also ran into a Vigilante, called Casey Jones. A bit of an oddball, but a good guy none the less. I hope you get this email, and you'll be able to arrive soon," Mega Man's email said. A day or so later, the ship Tails' built for the two of them, arrived on Earth, and hid it in a quiet area of the city, around where Mega Man hid his. It was now just past sunset.

"Come on, let's head to the rooftops, and figure out where to head from there," Sonic said, and Link followed him up a ladder to a fire escape, and they soon reached the top, ran across the roof, and lead to the next. They repeated this a few times, going from rooftop to rooftop.

"I wonder where our buddy of ours is at exactly? He didn't exactly give us that many details," Sonic said.

"Maybe, but I'm sure we'll find him, he may very well be looking for s as well," Link said.

"But I do have to admit, I don't want to run into that group of Ninjas he mentioned, the bad ones, not the Ninja Turtles he mentioned," he added.

"True, true," Sonic agreed.

"Hmmm, could we ask the police if they know where he hangs out?" Link asked.

"I guess we could at least ask if they've seen him recently, or where he seems to show up most," Sonic replied. And with that, they made their way to the police station, and they would soon find it.

"That's the place, let's head down to the ground real quick," Link said. They quickly then went down another fire escape, and stopped at the edge of the alley near the station.

"We probably shouldn't go inside the station, we'd best wait for one of them to come to us," Sonic said. Link nodded in agreement, so they waited a bit.

"Say, do you have the feeling like, someone or something is creeping up on ya?" Link asked. They both looked at each other for a moment, then behind them, and found quite a number of Ninjas, slowly moving towards them, their weapons poised for the kill.

"Not the best welcome wagon I've seen," Link said as he drew his sword and shield.

"But, it'll sure give us a good workout, considering how long the trip took too get here," Sonic said. The Ninjas, however, quickly fled after a certain car parked outside the alley. Link and Sonic looked back, and saw a very neat looking black car, it had some bat-like features too it.

"Guess the Ninjas don't like this guy," Link said, and the hatch where the driver seat was, opened, and Batman looked at them.

"Get in," he stated.

"Should we trust him?" Link asked.

"Don't see why not, he spooked those who were going to attack us away," Sonic replied, and they both got in, the hatch closed, and the Batmobile drove off.

"So, you two must be Mega Man's friends," Batman stated.

"You know him?" Sonic asked.

"I'm one of the few allies he has here," Batman replied.

"So, uh, who are you again?" Sonic asked.

"I'm Batman." he replied.

"I see," Link said.

"So uh, where are we going?" Sonic asked.

"To the garage that leads to the Turtles' lair, Mega Man should be there," Batman replied.

"By the way, what exactly are the turtles?" Sonic asked.

"Mega Man probably wasn't able to explain much in the email he sent I see. To put it simply, they are four turtles that got covered in some type of ooze, which also affected a rat named Splinter, who trained them the ninja arts," Batman replied.

"And you guys don't have any real idea who these other ninjas are?" Link asked.

"Nothing more than their emblem, we don't even have a name," Batman replied.

"Well that stinks," Link said. After a bit, they soon arrived at the garage, except it looked more like an old warehouse, which it was.

"This place leads to the Turtles' lair?" Sonic asked as they got out of the Batmobile.

"There is a hidden elevator, that leads all the way to the sewers," Batman replied.

"I see," Link said as Batman opened it, and they stepped inside.

"Going down please," Sonic said as the elevator started to head down. Once they reached the lair, they found Mega Man doing a slight training session with the Turtles, that wrapped up a minute or so after they stepped out and watched.

"Very good Mega Man, your training with us for the past few weeks is really starting to show," Splinter said.

"Thank you Master Splinter," Mega Man said.

"Hey!" Sonic called.

"Sonic! Link! You made it!" Mega Man said.

"They may have had some trouble getting here otherwise, they ran into the ninjas," Batman said.

"You ran into those guys?" Mikey asked.

"Slightly, they came up behind us, and we were ready to defend ourselves, then Batman showed up, and the Ninjas split," Link replied.

"We haven't exactly heard or seen any activity from them in awhile, not since we met them that one night," Leo stated.

"They are probably up to something now, and when they saw Sonic and Link, they figured they'd be a threat probably," Mega Man said.

"Well, what now?" Sonic asked.

"We probably should head out to try and find the ninjas, before they do what they're out to do," Batman replied. They all nodded and went out. A half hour or so later, our able bunch of heroes were on one rooftop over looking the entire city.

"Hmmm, things seem pretty quiet tonight," Leo said.

"Maybe a tad too quiet," Mega Man said.

"I agree, I doubt those guys just up and left, this seems out of place somehow," Sonic agreed. Before another word could be said, all the lights in the part of the city they were in, went totally black.

"Hey, what happened to the lights?" Link asked.

"A brownout?" Don asked.

"Must have been a power station for this part of the city, it's in total darkness," Spider-Man replied.

"Strange, we should see what we can find," Mega Man said as he went off, Spider-Man used his webbing to swing from building to building, while Batman used a grapple to get too buildings he couldn't jump to, while Link, Sonic, and the Turtles followed Mega Man. After doing this for a few minutes, they had arrived in a section where there was next to no one.

"I got a very bad feeling about this," Spider-Man said.

"With a power outage like this, even a museums defenses would be down," Batman said as he stood at the corner of a building, one hand on the ledge.

"Hmmm, we're near one, we should check it out then," Leo said, and once near it, they saw the Ninjas from before, quickly entering the museum through the skylight.

"Good call Bats!" Sonic said, rather amazed.

"Now we might be able to get some answers," Raph said as they made their way towards the museum. Inside, the ninjas were moving swiftly around the place, and they soon came to a very interesting looking sword. It was most certainly a Japanese Sword, it had three pointed objects, like claws of a dragon pointing up towards the blades tip at the top of the handle. Those tips, and the swirl that went around the handle itself, were a golden color, while the blade and the rest of the handle were a whitish-silver.

One of the Ninjas started to use a glass cutter to get at the sword, but then a Ninja star almost hit is arm, as he heard it, and just barely pulled his arm back in time.

"Just in case you guys didn't know, the gift shop is downstairs," Leo said. The Ninja quickly tried to take the sword again, but almost got hit by a Batarang.

"Let me give you a few words of advice. Get out, and we may not hurt you, much," Batman said.

"And to possibly help insure that, give yourselves up, and tell us what we want to know," Mega Man added. But, the Ninjas just drew their weapons.

"Heh, you guys think you can take on all of us?" Sonic asked as he adjusted one of his gloves. Soon more Ninjas showed up.

"I take that as a yes," Link said as he drew his sword and shield.

"Hmm, about fifty too nine, that's fair right?" Mikey asked.

"Bring it!" Mega Man stated as he took a stance as his arm turned into his buster. The ninjas with bows and arrows fired at them from high areas, Batman, half of the Turtles, Sonic and Mega Man dodged, while the other half of the Turtles, deflected the arrows, Spider-Man blocked with a shield made of webbing, while Link blocked with his shield. Mega Man then shot at the ones with the arrows in rapid fire, knocking them out as they fell out of the windows and into the walls behind them. A ninja came up behind Batman, ready to attack him, but Batman drove his elbow into the ninja's gut, then quickly bent that arm upwards so his fist nailed the ninja's jaw, and he quickly spun around and walloped hard with a fierce jab to the top of the head, knocking him out onto the floor.

Spider-Man then quickly webbed a ninja, yanked him towards himself, caught him, beat on with rapid punches, which he alternated a few times where he struck. After about twelve blows, he then spun the ninja through the air on another strand of webbing, knocking him into a few of the other ninjas that were close.

Link, was rather enjoying himself as he went toe to toe with one of the ninja's.

"Ha! It's been too long since I had a good fight like this!" Link stated as he sort of fenced with the ninja.

"Me too, but there's getting to be to many of them to take on at once, even with our numbers, they must have prepared for when we would show up," Sonic said. Mega Man looked at their options, and figured out a quick solution.

"Sonic, get ready, everyone else, take cover!" Mega Man yelled. Sonic quickly knew what was going down, so he quickly got into the center of the room and curled up as everyone saw Mega Man run towards Sonic like a football player, so they just got behind something when Sonic yelled "Blast away!" just a little before Mega Man booted him hard, and Sonic bounced around the room like a Ping-Pong ball at crazy speeds, bashing into the Foot Ninja's and knocking them out in rapid succession. Once he was done, the others came out.

"Now that was awesome!" Mikey said.

"And I even made sure to avoid the artifacts," Sonic said as he brushed his hands.

"Normally I wouldn't suggest this, but I think we'd best take that sword and study it, I have a sneaky feeling there is more to it than meets the…..eye…." Mega Man trailed off as he noticed a Foot Ninja, that managed to avoid Sonic's attack, and remain undetected until the last second, pulling the sword out of the display case, while holding it with a special glove.

"Alright, it's nine to one, what do you possibly think you can do?" Raph asked before the Ninja quickly pointed at the ceil above them, and the sword shot out a beam of energy that struck the ceiling hard, making it explode and crumble down on our heroes, giving the Foot Ninja a chance to escape. About five minutes later the pile of ruble started to move and shake, as Batman, Spider-Man, and Mega Man pushed and shoved with all their might, getting them and the rest of them free.

"Ouch, that's the third time I've had the ceiling fall on me, although the second time I was able to catch it," Mega Man said.

"Yeah, I'll admit it is hard to catch a million big pieces of falling rock," Link commented.

"We really messed up this time, we sure let our guard down," Leo said.

"How were we supposed to know that sword was magical?" Mikey asked.

"The fact that he wore a special glove to pick it up should have clued us in," Link replied.

"Link's right, that sword probably can only be held by certain people, but you can protect yourself from it," Batman agreed.

"A magical sword? Guys, I think that sword…." Don trailed off when he received a rather mean glare from Link.

"K, point taken, that sword clearly wasn't a normal sword," he said.

"Also that sword was clearly ancient Japanese, I could tell by it's style, and it did appear to be quite old," Batman stated.

"More puzzle pieces to try and put into place," Spider-Man said.

"Well, it's obvious that we're dealing with someone who knows their Japanese, and it's magical relics. How else would they be able to make a glove to protect them from it?" Mega Man asked.

"Makes sense. Too bad we didn't get the sword, we might have had more to go on if we had that," Sonic said.

"But, I think we should book it before the cops show, I've had enough mix ups with the boys in blue to last me a lifetime," he added.

"Ditto," Spider-Man said as he fired webbing at the open window above as Batman fired his grapple at it, while the Turtles used their rope hooks.

"So, any ideas on our next move possibly?" Mikey asked once they were on the roof.

"We'll have to wait for them to show again, cause if my hunch is right, either the leader will show up using the sword, or they'll use the sword for something else," Mega Man replied before he saw something in the distance, something that glided.

"So, what now at the current moment?" Sonic asked.

"You guys head to the lair, I'll meet up with you there, I have something I need to check real quick," Mega Man replied before he went off.

"Hm, first time I've ever seen him have to go somewhere, and I thought I was the only one who did that," Spider-Man commented.

"Besides you Bats," he added. Sonic and Link were just puzzled, but just hoped Mega Man would be alright. Mega Man felt strangely drown to the gliding figure he spotted, and was able to keep track of it for a bit, but soon lost sight of it, the way it glided, it managed to hide within the shadows of the buildings.

"What was that?" Mega Man asked. Awhile later, he took Sonic and Link to his hidden ship.

"I've been here for a few weeks, and we haven't even come close to learning who these Ninja's are," Mega Man said.

"These guys sure are a lot more organized than Robotnick, to be able to keep themselves so well hidden," Sonic said.

"They don't go advertising themselves like Robotnick does, they try and keep their actions as quiet as possible, and they mostly seem to work with the Purple Dragon gang," Mega Man said.

"Learn anything about them?" Link asked.

"Nothing a hundre percent solid, but I know Casey Jones had a nasty run in with them when he was a lot younger. The Dragons have been around for awhile," Mega Man replied.

"I see," Sonic said.

"If we can find one of the Purple Dragon's hideouts, we might be able to find out more about them, but there are plenty of places to hide, and it's hard to cover all the places in the city," Mega Man said.

"But one thing I do know, if we don't stop those Ninja's sometime soon, they'll cause worlds of trouble," he added. Elsewhere, in the Foot's main H.Q., Hun brought the stolen sword in a box to his master.

"Ahhh, the Sword of Tengu," he said as Hun opened the box, and his master took hold of the handle, and lifted it out, and it started to spark with great energy.

"Still just a potent, after all these years since our Ancestors made it," he said. The sword then started to react to the hidden armor in a nearby display case.

"And it can still seek out other artifacts that share it's unique origin, and other artifacts of power," he added.

"Yes master, but it appears we have some enemies, as getting this back was a lot harder than we thought it would be, there are now nine who appose us," Hun said.

"Nine? Last time it was seven, now nine?" the master asked.

"And only two of them are of the already known heroes on this planet, the rest are new comers. Though three we suspect are outsiders to this planet," Hun said. The master then made a sound of annoyance.

"I thought the heroes already here would pose enough of a problem, but now all these newcomers? And four aren't even human?" he asked.

"Seven," Hun corrected.

"GAH! This dose not bode well at all. We're lucky they know as little about us right now, but they are likely doing everything to try and find us out, we have to act beforehand," the master said.

"We feel the same way, what are your orders?" Hun asked. The master thought a bit, he knew he needed to do something, and something good if he hoped to stop the heroes.

"Get me…….Macbeth," he replied.

End Chapter 23


End file.
